The average retail pump price for diesel fuel inched up 4/10ths of a penny per gallon this week in the U.S., according to data tracked by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), while the average retail pump price for gasoline slid 1.1 cents per gallon.
The agency said the average U.S. retail pump price for diesel hit $3.90 per gallon this week – which is 12.6 cents lower per gallon compared to the same week in 2012 – as diesel prices increased in five regions of the country while falling in the other four.
Diesel remains above the $4 per gallon mark in New England ($4.036), along the West Coast ($4.057), and in California ($4.134), according to EIA’s data, with the Gulf Coast home to the cheapest diesel in the nation at $3.822 per gallon.
The agency added that the biggest weekly increases in average diesel prices occurred along the West Coast (a 1.9 cent per gallon jump) and in the Lower Atlantic (a 1.4 cent per gallon hike), while falling the most in the Rocky Mountain region by a penny per gallon.
Average retail pump prices for gasoline, by contrast, fell to $3.55 per gallon this week, noted EIA, and are down 19.4 cents per gallon compared to the same time period in 2012.
Gasoline prices only increased in the Midwest, rising 2.3 cents to $3.501 per gallon, while falling in every other region in the nation, the agency pointed out.
The Gulf Coast is again home to the cheapest gasoline in the country ($3.373 per gallon), EIA reported, while average retail pump prices for gasoline declined the most along the West Coast (a 6.2 cent per gallon drop) and in the Central Atlantic region (a 2.2 cent decline).
