Diesel Soars 22.6¢ to Record $4.723 a Gallon
Diesel fuel topped its recent big jumps in soaring 22.6 cents to an average $4.723 a gallon nationwide, for a third straight record high, the Department of Energy said Tuesday.
Gasoline, meanwhile, leaped 14.3 cents to a record $3.937 a gallon, leaving the price 72.8 cents higher than the same week last year.
Gas topped $4 in both the West Coast region, at $4.029, and the California sub-region, at $4.099, DOE said.
The diesel spike, which comes on the heels of 16.6-cent and 18.2-cent increases the past two weeks, put the gain over the past three weeks alone at 57.4 cents.
Trucking’s main fuel is now $1.906 higher than the same week last year, according to DOE figures.
Tuesday’s climb — the price was released a day later than usual because of the Memorial Day holiday — was the biggest single-week gain since the big hurricanes of September 2005, when diesel jumped a record 34.6 cents.
Diesel’s average price topped $5 a gallon in California, a sub-region of DOE’s West Coast region, marking the first time a reported price topped that level.
California led all reported prices for the week, at $5.027 a gallon — jumping 29 cents from a week ago. The East Coast region’s Central Atlantic sub-region was not far behind, gaining 23.1 cents to reach $4.913 a gallon.
Overseas, truckers on Tuesday protested the high price of diesel in England, where diesel is running the equivalent of $9 a gallon, news services reported.
Each week, DOE surveys about 350 diesel filling stations to compile a national snapshot average price.
