Price of diesel makes tiny move upward, now down just 5 cents year over

The national average price for a gallon of on-highway diesel rose two-tenths of a penny in the week ended Dec. 23 to $3.873, according to the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration.

The price of diesel has now remained nearly stagnant in the last three weeks, changing just a fraction of a cent in each — The price fell four-tenths of a cent in the week ended Dec. 9 and then fell another eight-tenths of a cent in the week ended Dec. 16.

The price of diesel in the last several months has consistently at least a dime cheaper — sometimes as much as a quarter cheaper — than the same week in 2012. That gap, however, has slowly closed in recent weeks, as the price of diesel is now just 5 cents lower than the same week in 2012.

Regionally, the Central Atlantic region saw the biggest week-to-week increase, rising 1.1 cents. The Midwest region had the largest decrease, falling five-tenths of a cent.

The California region still has the country’s most expensive diesel, $4.073 a gallon, while the Gulf Coast region still has the nation’s cheapest, $3.772.

Click here to see more data from EIA.