Thomas L. Gallagher | Sep 09, 2009 12:28PM EDT
The retail price of diesel fuel fell 2.7 cents in the first week of September to reach a national average of $2.647 per gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The decline in prices was the first in seven weeks as the summer consumer driving season came to an end and crude oil futures eased their upward pressure.
In the approach the Labor Day holiday on Monday, crude oil futures fell from $72.74 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Aug. 28 to a low of $67.96 on Sept. 3, then gained again to reach $71.10 on Sept. 8. The easing of pressure from the wholesale end, combined with the end of the peak gasoline season as consumers finished their summer vacations, gave retailers room to lower diesel prices, too.
Diesel prices went down in every region, most of all in the Gulf Coast, where the average price dropped 4.3 cents to $2.575 per gallon, the lowest regional average. In the Rocky Mountains, prices fell least, dipping only 1 cent to $2.682 per gallon.
The nation’s highest diesel prices were still in the West Coast and especially California, where the state is considering adding higher taxes to the cost of diesel. California’s diesel prices fell 2.7 cents last week to $2.866 per gallon. In the West Coast region, diesel fell 1.6 cents to $2.786 per gallon.
Contact Thomas L. Gallagher at tgallagher@joc.com.
