Fuel Price Fall Is Steady But Future Spikes Expected
The retail price of diesel fuel dropped below $1.40 a gallon for the first time in 13 weeks, but analysts are warning truckers not to get too happy because a price spike may be on the way.
On April 17, the national average retail price of diesel fuel was $1.398, according to the Energy Information Administration. That was 2.1 cents below the previous week and 9.8 cents below the high point of $1.496 reached on March 13.
The price of diesel fuel has fallen continuously since that date, which was shortly before members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to boost production by 1.7 million barrels a day. The cartel touched off a run-up in fuel prices that started last March, when diesel was selling for under a dollar a gallon.
However, Tom Kloza, editorial director of the Oil Price Information Service, thinks that the price drop for diesel and other fuels may have been overdone.
 | Fuel Prices | |||
| Week of April 17: | ||||
| source | price | change | ||
| DOE | 139.8 | -2.1 | ||
| Comdata* | 138.0 | -2.7 | ||
| OPIS self-serve* | 139.4 | -2.8 | ||
| OPIS wholesale* | 80.1 | -3.9 | ||
| *Comdata and OPIS figures are for the week of April 8-15. Click here for more fuel prices. | ||||
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