National Diesel Average Drops to Lowest Level Since July 2009
The average price of diesel fuel in the United States declined 4.7 cents a gallon to $2.514, the lowest level since July 2009, the Department of Energy reported Aug. 31.
The decline is the 14th consecutive weekly drop. The cumulative value of that fall-off is 40 cents since May 25.
The national average for trucking’s main fuel was cheaper by $1.300 a gallon from a year ago, DOE’s Energy Information Administration said after its weekly survey of fueling stations.
Retail prices for the fuel declined in all major regions of the country. The largest decline was a 6.6-cent drop in the New England region.
Gasoline dropped 12.7 cents to $2.510 a gallon. That follows a 7.9-cent decline the prior week. The price of gasoline declined in every region of the country, the most being 20.1 cents in the Midwest.
West Texas Intermediate for October delivery surged $3.98, or 8.8%, to close at $49.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Aug. 31. It was the highest settlement since July 21.
OPEC has been boosting supply as it seeks to force higher-cost producers to cut output. The group has exceeded its target of 30 million barrels a day for a year, Bloomberg News reported. Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s top producer, pumped 10.57 million barrels a day in July, the most in monthly Bloomberg data going back to 1989.
