The price of diesel continued its slight decline for the third week in a row, with a 3.2-cent decrease in the U.S. national average, which was down to $5.539 per gallon for the week of May 30, according to new government data.
Despite the decrease, diesel prices are still historically high. Record prices were set as the U.S. average jumped 11.4 cents the week of May 9 and 34.9 cents the week of May 2. And trucking's main fuel sits at $2.284 per gallon more than a year ago, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Also according to EIA, the monthly average price of $5.571 per gallon for May was $2.354 more expensive than the average of $3.217 in May 2021. This is in stark contrast to May 2020, when diesel was $3.179 cheaper per gallon at $2.392 early in the pandemic.
All regions of the country saw a price decrease except for the West Coast, where prices increased 5.3 cents to $6.134 per gallon. The declining prices seen the past three weeks in the U.S. national average have not been reflected in the West Coast, where fuel prices are higher than all other regions, though they are higher now in some subregions such as New England and the Central Atlantic. In California, which has the highest fuel prices in the nation, the price of diesel increased 4 cents to $6.542 per gallon.
Motor club AAA, which updates its prices daily whereas EIA updates weekly, recorded its June 1 average for diesel at $5.538 per gallon, a 1.7-cent increase from May 31 but a 0.6-cent decrease from the previous week’s $5.544.
AAA also monitors gasoline prices. Regular unleaded gasoline was $4.671 per gallon for June 1, a 7.2-cent increase from the previous week and an all-time high since the motor club began uploading its data. EIA listed an average gallon of gasoline at $4.624 for the week of May 30, a 3.1-cent increase from the previous week and an increase of $1.597 from this time last year.
The price of crude oil per barrel has steadily increased past $115 for West Texas Intermediate and $117 for Brent crude.
