Diesel Price Falls Fourth Straight Week

The average price of diesel fuel fell for the fourth time over the past week as businesses headed into the busier fall shipping season with fuel prices virtually unchanged from the spring. Across the nation, diesel slipped seven-tenths of a cent to $2.931 per gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The decline was the steepest on the Gulf Coast, where the average price fell 1.2 cents to $2.876 per gallon, the lowest price in the nation.

By The Numbers: U.S. Diesel Prices.

Diesel fell less than a penny in two other regions. On the East Coast, it slipped seven-tenths of a cent to $2.923 per gallon. In the Midwest, it came down nine-tenths of a cent to $2.90 per gallon.

Prices rose in the two other regions, where it was already over $3 per gallon. In the Rocky Mountains, the average price increased two-tenths of a cent to $3.021 per gallon. On the West Coast, diesel prices grew three-tenths of a cent to $3.104 per gallon.

Crude oil futures wavered up and down during the week and ended 57 cents below the previous week’s level at $74.60 per barrel Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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