In The News
Diesel prices continue in downward direction for fifth consecutive week
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On-highway diesel prices fell for the week ending November 19, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The average price for gallon of diesel nationwide declined by $0.035 to $3.282. This was the fifth week in a row that diesel prices fell, going back to October 15, when the national average reached $3.394, the highest it had been since mid-December 2014.
Every region in the country experienced a price drop over this past week, with the Midwest seeing prices fall the furthest, $0.046, to $3.216.
Both the West Coast, where diesel prices are highest, and the Gulf Coast, where they are the lowest, experienced a 4-cent price drop. Diesel prices for the West Coast overall now stand at $3.767. Taken separately, the price of diesel in California, where there also was a 4-cent price drop, stands at exactly $4 per gallon.
Diesel in the Gulf Coast region is down to $3.045.
The price drop was not as pronounced on the East Coast, where the overall region saw diesel fall by $0.019 to $3.295. The Lower Atlantic had the best of it. Prices there fell 2.2 cents to $3.16, while in New England, there was only a modest $0.009 decline, the smallest of any region, bringing the price there down to $3.347.
Nationwide, the price of diesel is currently 37 cents higher than it was a year ago.
New England has experienced the largest year-to-year gain, at $0.485. With the recent price slide, diesel in the Midwest is now just $0.343 above where it was this time last year.
Oil prices rose Monday on news of potential European Union sanctions against Iran and of possible production cuts by OPEC. Brent crude futures rose 21 cents to $66.97 a barrel, while U.S futures gained 68 cents Monday to finish at $56.76.
Despite the gains Monday, the price of a barrel of oil on both benchmarks has fallen by more than 20 percent since the start of October.