Diesel Soars 12.2 cents to Record High of $3.425
For the second straight week, the price of diesel fuel reached a new all-time record, jumping 12.2 cents to $3.425, the Department of Energy said Tuesday.
Coupled with the previous week’s 14.6 cent spike, the national average price of trucking's main fuel has now gained 26.8 cents in the past two weeks, according to DOE.
The previous fuel record was set Nov. 5 when the national average price of diesel rose to $3.303 a gallon, topping the old high of $3.144, which was recorded in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in Oct., 2005.
The diesel average is now 87.3 cents higher than in the corresponding week of 2006, meaning that truckers will pay about $175 more for a 200 gallon fill-up.
Across the country, the average national price of trucking’s main fuel rose in all nine DOE re-gions, reaching its highest level in the West Coast, where the average price per gallon was $3.608. In California, which DOE breaks out separately, diesel prices surged 13.9 cents to $3.663.
Gasoline prices rose 9.8 cents to $3.111, 87.9 cents higher than a year ago, DOE said.
Meanwhile, crude oil prices dipped slightly, but remained over $90 a barrel after the International Energy Agency cut its global demand forecast for the rest of this year and 2008.
Crude oil futures fell about $3.42, or 3.6%, to $91.20 a barrel at the 2:30 p.m. close of floor trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg News reported.
Each week, DOE surveys about 350 diesel filling stations to compile a national snapshot average price.
