For the fourth week in a row, average U.S. diesel prices continue to drop – down 1.1 cents to $2.859, compared to last week’s $2.870, according to data compiled by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). This week’s price is $1.060 per gallon cheaper compared to the same week in 2014.
Diesel prices decreased in every region of the country this week, with the exception of New England, up 1.2 cents to $3.085 and the West Coast without California, up 6 tenths of a cent to $3.007. Five regions continue to break the $3 per gallon mark:
California, down 1.2 cents to $3.170 per gallon;
The Central Atlantic, down 1.5 cents to $3.102;
The West Coast including California, down 4 tenths of a cent to $3.097;
New England, up 1.2 cents to $3.085;
The West Coast without California, up 6 tenths of a cent to $3.007.
Average U.S. retail pump prices for gasoline decreased by 2.3 cents this week to at $2.812 per gallon, the agency noted. According to EIA, that is 89.2 cents cheaper compared to the same week last year.
Gasoline prices decreased in all but three regions – the West Coast without California saw a 3.9-cent increase to $3.069, the Rocky Mountain region increased 3 tenths of a cent to $2.788, and New England saw a 1.8-cent increase to $2.806. Like last week, the two regions above the $3-per-gallon mark are the West Coast including California at $3.329 and the West Coast without California at $3.069, EIA said.
According to EIA, employment in oil and natural gas extraction and support activities in the U.S. reached nearly 538,000 last October, but then it declined by about 35,000 jobs through April 2015.
“Declines in oil and natural gas extraction and support activities tend to lag declines in crude oil prices,” EIA said. “As prices of North Sea Brent crude oil fell from their June 2014 level of $112 per barrel, firms reduced the number of new wells drilled and the associated workforce.”
