The average price of diesel fuel in the United States rose 1.6 cents a gallon to $2.492, the Department of Energy reported Oct. 5.
The national average for trucking’s main fuel was cheaper by $1.241 a gallon from a year ago, DOE’s Energy Information Administration said after its weekly survey of fueling stations.
Retail prices for the fuel rose in four out of 10 regions of the country; the largest increase was a 5.5-cent increase in the Midwest. The price of diesel was unchanged in the Gulf Coast.
The rise is the first since Sept. 7, when it increased 2 cents. The average price of diesel has declined 5.8 cents in the four weeks since the last rise.
Gasoline dipped 0.4 cent to $2.318 a gallon. That follows a 0.5-cent decline the prior week. The price of gas fell by 6.2 cents in the Rocky Mountains but rose by 2.7 cents in the Midwest.
West Texas Intermediate for November delivery rose 72 cents to settle at $46.26 a barrel Oct. 5 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest close since Sept. 21, Bloomberg News reported.
The number of active rigs fell to 614 last week, according to data from oil field-services company Baker Hughes Inc. U.S. crude output was down 514,000 barrels a day from a four-decade high of 9.61 million in June, government data show.
Even as U.S. crude stockpiles stay about 100 million barrels above the five-year seasonal average and OPEC pumps above its target, oil has held near $45 a barrel for more than four weeks since plunging to a six-year low near $38 in August. When prices stop responding to bad news, it’s usually a sign a rebound is around the corner, investor Jim Rogers told Bloomberg.
