Diesel Drops 5.4¢ to $2.284; Gasoline Falls to $2.026
The U.S. average retail diesel price fell for the sixth consecutive week and to the lowest point this year, down 5.4 cents a gallon to $2.284, the Department of Energy reported Dec. 21. The latest decline set a new low for prices over the past nearly 6 1/2 years, surpassing the $2.223 set May 11, 2009.
Trucking’s main fuel is 99.7 cents a gallon cheaper than a year ago, when the price was $3.281.
Diesel prices fell in all regions, with the Rocky Mountain region registering the steepest decline, 7.1 cents, puttingÌýthe fuelÌýthere at $2.304.
DOE’s Energy Information Administration also said the national average price of gasoline fell 1.1 cents to $2.026 a gallon. Prices dropped in all regions except the Lower Atlantic, up four-tenths of a cent, the West Cost less California, up 1.2 centsÌýand in California, where pricesÌýclimbed 5.6 cents to $2.570.
Crude oil futures closed on the New York Mercantile ExchangeÌýatÌý $34.74 a barrel Dec. 21, or $1.57 less than the previous week.
