Diesel spike pushes price above year-ago levels
Diesel fuel prices have made the first significant upward move since October, giving back six weeks’ worth of decreases.
The average U.S. retail pump price for diesel jumped 6 cents in the Dec. 5 report by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), to $2.48 per gallon. The national average has now climber above year-ago prices, up a full dime.
Every region saw a price increase, paced by the Midwest which posted a gain 7.5 cents ($2.431), and the Gulf Coast, up 7.1 cents to $2.361—still the lowest price for a gallon of diesel in the country.
Prices were up about a nickel on the East Coast, coming in at $2.526 in New England, $2.602 in the Central Atlantic, and $2.415 in the Lower Atlantic.
On the West Coast, less California, diesel registered a 4.4-cent increase to $2.679. In California, the price rose 4.3 cents in California to $2.843, the highest price in the lower 48 states.
Diesel was up less than a penny in the Rocky Mountains, where a gallon was $2.457.
The national average price for gasoline also jumped, up 5.4 cents for the week to $2.208.