Diesel Takes Second Straight Increase; Gas Sees First Drop in 3 Weeks
Diesel’s national average price rose for a second straight week, gaining 3.9 cents to $3.883 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported Dec. 2.
Gasoline fell 2.1 cents to $3.272 a gallon, its first decline in three weeks, DOE said.
Diesel’s pump price had not increased for 11 consecutive weeks prior to last week’s 2.2-cent upturn. It declined in nine weeks and held steady in two.
In that time, trucking’s primary main fuel had dropped about 16 cents from its level of early September, when it was just below $4 a gallon. Diesel is 14.4 cents less than the same week a year ago, DOE said.
Gas had gained 9.9 cents in the past two weeks. The motor fuel is 12.2 cents less than it was a year ago.
Each week, DOE surveys about 400 diesel filling stations and 800 gasoline stations to compile national average prices.
Meanwhile, after closing at a six-month low $93.20 a barrel on Nov. 27, crude oil finished Monday’s trading at $93.82 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg News reported.
