Average retail pump prices for diesel and gasoline took a slight dip this week across much of the nation, according to data tracked by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), with the agency still expecting fuel prices to remain flat or slightly down by year’s end in comparison with 2012.
The U.S. average retail pump price for diesel declined 7/10ths of a penny to $3.974 per gallon, according to the EIA, with all regions of the county reporting price drops except for the Rocky Mountains and California.
Compared to the same week in 2012, though, the agency noted the national average retail pump price for diesel is down by 16.1 cents per gallon.
In the Rocky Mountain region, diesel prices increased 7/10ths of a penny to $3.941 per gallon, while in California prices inched up 3/10ths of a penny to $4.228 per gallon – the highest per gallon price for diesel in the U.S., according to EIA’s figures.
This week, four U.S. regions are reporting diesel prices over the $4 per gallon mark: New England ($4.088), the Central Atlantic area ($4.044), the West Coast when including California prices ($4.138) and when eliminating them ($4.032), plus California itself.
The U.S. average retail pump price for gasoline declined this week by 4 cents to $3.537 per gallon, which puts this week price 33.1 cents per gallon lower compared to the same week in 2012, EIA said.
Gasoline prices declined in all regions of the country except the West Coast, where prices jumped up 10.3 cents to $3.90 per gallon when including California, while increasing 1.3 cents to $3.64 per gallon when eliminating California’s gasoline prices from the mix.
EIA still expect regular-grade gasoline retail prices – which averaged $3.59 per gallon during the first half of 2013 – to average $3.60 per gallon and $3.44 per gallon during the third and fourth quarters of 2013, respectively.
Led by falling crude oil prices, the projected U.S. average regular gasoline retail price should end up falling from $3.63 per gallon in 2012 to an average $3.55 per gallon in 2013 and $3.43 per gallon in 2014, the agency noted in its most recent Short Term Energy Outlook briefing released last week.
Diesel fuel prices, which averaged $3.97 per gallon in 2012, are projected to average $3.96 per gallon in 2013 and $3.82 per gallon in 2014, EIA added.
