The national average retail price of a gallon of diesel fell 1.5 cents to $3.410 for the week ending Monday, Nov. 19, down from $3.425 during the previous week. It was the first decline in the diesel price in six weeks, but the new price was 85.7 cents higher than the same week last year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
The average price now has been above $3 for a record nine consecutive weeks. It was the first week since Oct. 29 that an all-time record high price wasn’t tied or surpassed. Still, this week’s national average was the second-highest price ever recorded.
Prices were down in all but two regions tracked by DOE: The Rocky Mountain region saw the biggest drop, $0.250, at $3.507; while the Gulf Coast region saw the second-biggest decline, $0.230, $3.324, which was the nation’s cheapest diesel.
The largest week-over-week increase, $0.004 cents, was in the New England region at $3.488. The other increase, $0.001 cents, was in the Central Atlantic region at $3.524. The West Coast again had the nation’s most expensive diesel, $3.586.
Tight supply, growing demand worldwide and “heightened geopolitical risks” are to blame for the high prices of diesel and gasoline, said DOE’s Energy Information Administration. Several events — including Hurricane Noel, a fire at a Chevron refinery in Mississippi and threats of a Turkish invasion of Kurdish Iraq — recently helped drive oil to record per-barrel prices.
For state-by-state diesel prices, updated daily, click here.
