Diesel Rises First Time in a Month

The average price of diesel fuel last week edged up 1.2 cents to $2.943 per gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, following four consecutive weeks of falling prices.

The upturn comes as the crude oil futures market also swung to its highest price in over a month. West Texas intermediate crude oil for October delivery closed up $2.20 at $76.45 per barrel Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was just $1.57 lower than the recent peak of $78.02 per barrel on Aug. 11.

By The Numbers: U.S. Diesel Prices.

The only region where the price fell was on the West Coast, which nevertheless remained the highest-priced region in the country. Diesel dropped three-tenths of a cent there to $3.101 per gallon. In California, a similar drop left the average price at $3.142 per gallon.

Diesel prices fell slightly in New England but gained in the rest of the East Coast region to average a gain of nine-tenths of a cent to $2.932 per gallon. In the Midwest, prices climbed fastest, adding 2 cents to top out at $2.92 per gallon. In the Rocky Mountains, the retail price went up 1 cent to $3.031 per gallon. On the Gulf Coast, diesel sold for $2.887 per gallon, up 1.1 cents from a week earlier.

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