On-highway diesel prices spiked this week after a brief hiccup last week in their upward trajectory.
As so often happens, oil prices were falling Monday as diesel prices were surging — the national average running up 6.1 cents a gallon from last week — the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported.The average is now $3.104 compared with $3.043 a gallon a week ago on April 9.
Oil prices had spiked last week on fears over an escalation of strife in the Middle East, The Associated Press reported.
Gasoline prices have been escalating and diesel totals had as well until last week, when several of the EIA’s 10 reporting regions showed slight slides in diesel prices and some stayed the same.
The West Coast Less California sector showed the largest boost Monday — 10 cents a gallon to $3.326 — followed by the West Coast at 8.3 cents a gallon more to $3.583.
California has the highest diesel prices at $3.787, after surging 7 cents a gallon. Only two sectors, the Lower Atlantic ($2.998) and the Gulf Coast ($2.910) have prices below $3 a gallon.
For more details on EIA prices by region click here.
Benchmark U.S. crude declined $1.17, or 1.7 percent Monday to settle at $66.22 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, slid $1.16, or 1.6 percent, to close at $71.42 per barrel.
In other energy futures trading, heating oil dropped 3 cents to $2.07 a gallon, while wholesale gasoline slid 3 cents to $2.04 a gallon. Natural gas rose 2 cents to $2.75 per 1,000 cubic feet, The Associated Press reported.
Dorothy Cox is former assistant editor – now retired – of The Trucker, and a 20-plus-year trucking journalism veteran. She holds a bachelor’s degree in fine arts and a master’s degree in divinity. Cox has been in journalism since 1972. She has won awards for her writing in both mainstream and trucking journalism.
