Diesel Slips Third Straight Week

The average retail price for diesel slipped three-tenths of a cent to $2.787 per gallon last week, the third consecutive week of slim declines, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The week ending Nov. 23 was the fourth consecutive week of nearly flat diesel prices as weak demand in the still lackluster economy left inventories high. Diesel has dropped only 1.4 cents since Oct. 26, when it was $2.801 per gallon.

At this point last year, diesel was more than half way down its long slide from the all time peak of $4.764 per gallon on July 14, 2008. It reached a point in November 2008 that was 12.3 cents lower than it is now. The climb from $2.017 per gallon in March 2009 has been neither steep nor steady.

Prices gained in two regions and fell in three. Diesel rose half a cent in the Gulf Coast and the Rocky Mountains. It fell in the West Coast, Midwest and East Coast; the biggest drop was seven-tenths of a cent in the Midwest.

The lowest prices were in the Gulf Coast, where drivers paid $2.738 per gallon, up 14 cents from a year ago. The highest prices were in the West Coast, where drivers paid $2.896 per gallon, up 28.8 cents from last year. In California, diesel fell one cent to the highest price anywhere in the country: $2.954 per gallon, up 34.9 cents from a year ago.

Contact Thomas L. Gallagher at tgallagher@joc.com.