Defying the traditional fuel price spike that occurs over Memorial Day weekend, which marks the beginning of the “summer driving season,” the average retail pump price for diesel and gasoline actually declined this year, according to data tracked by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
The agency said the average retail pump price for diesel in the U.S. dropped one penny to $3.88 per gallon this week, which is also 1.7 cents cheaper compared to the same week in 2012.
Diesel prices are the highest in California ($4.044 per gallon), New England ($3.991) and along the West Coast ($3.986), EIA noted.
Average retail pump prices for gasoline in the U.S. declined 2.8 cents to $3.645 per gallon this week, according to EIA, which is 2.5 cents per gallon cheaper compared to the same week in 2012.
That average decline occurred, despite rising prices in five of nine U.S. regions, largely because of a whopping 8.7 cent per gallon drop in Midwest gasoline prices to $3.779 per gallon, the agency reported – reversing what occurred in 2012, when a spike in gasoline prices in the Midwest over the Memorial Day holiday reflected supply constraints stemming from refinery outages and lower-than-normal gasoline inventories.
Gasoline is currently cheapest along the Gulf Coast and in the Lower Atlantic region, at $3.336 and $3.431 per gallon, respectively, EIA said.
