Fuel Price Eases, Inventory Rises
Rising distillate inventories brought a 1-cent drop in the price of diesel fuel last week, although falling stocks of crude oil and a strike that has halted Norway’s North Sea oil exports seemed to threaten another jump in price.
However, a leading oil industry analyst predicted a period of price stability — albeit at a relatively high level — for diesel fuel over the next few weeks.
The national average retail price of diesel fuel as reported by the federal Energy Information Administration stood at $1.418 on May 1, compared with $1.428 on April 24.
Mark Derks of T-Chek, a provider of payment and information services to the transportation industry, said a general strike by Norwegian unions would have an effect on U.S. crude supplies.
 | Fuel Prices | |||
| Week of May 1: | ||||
| source | price | change | ||
| DOE | 141.8 | -1.0 | ||
| Comdata* | 140.3 | +3.1 | ||
| OPIS self-serve* | 141.7 | +2.9 | ||
| OPIS wholesale* | 85.5 | +0.3 | ||
| *Comdata and OPIS figures are for the week of April 22-28. Click here for more fuel prices. | ||||
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