Diesel price posts biggest gain in 2 years

The price of a gallon of diesel climbed sharply last week, the second consecutive increase following a full summer of declines.

The average U.S. retail pump price for diesel was up 6.4 cents in the Oct. 12 report by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), to $2.556 per gallon. That’s the largest jump in a little more than two years, and it brings the price back up to the level of late August. Still, the price is about $1.14 per gallon cheaper than this time last year.

Every region saw diesel price increases, paced by the Midwest where the cost surged 14.5 cents to $2.634 on refinery capacity issues and seasonal agricultural demand.

On the West Coast, not including California, diesel was up 4.3 cents to $2.603. In California, which has the highest price in the contiguous 48 states at $2.833 per gallon, the price climbed 3 cents.

In New England diesel was up just a fraction, 0.2 cents, bringing the price of gallon to $2.578. The Central Atlantic region saw the price climb 3 cents to $2.661, while the price rose 3.7 cents in the Lower Atlantic, to $2.469.

The Rocky Mountain region posted a 1.5 cent increase to $2.486, while on the Gulf Coast was up 1.6 cents to $2.339, the lowest price for a gallon in the nation.