Diesel prices are back over the $4 per gallon mark, says EIA

When the price per gallon of diesel spiked a full ten cents last week, it still remained below $4 per gallon. But with this week’s 2.3 cent gain to $4.01 per gallon, it is back in territory it has not been in since mid-May, when it hit $4.061 on May 16, according to data from the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA).

In April and May there were multiple weeks in which the price per gallon of diesel were north of $4, before settling into the $3.70 to $3.90 range for most of the subsequent weeks. While diesel is above the $4 mark, it is 11.4 cents the 2011 high of $4.124 per gallon from the week of May 2, which is also highest level for diesel prices since August 2008, when prices were approaching $5 per gallon. Last week’s ten cent gain was the single largest weekly gain since the week of April 11, when the price per gallon increased 10.2 cents to $4.105.

On an annual basis, the price per gallon is up 83.9 cents and is slightly down from declines in the mid-80s and higher for most of 2011 prior to recent weeks.

Oil barrel prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange hit $102.59 late last week, which marked the first time it eclipsed $100 since June. As of this morning, oil was trading at $98.47 per barrel.

And at last week’s TransComp exhibition in Atlanta, many shippers told LM they are forecasting for steady fuel increases in their supply chain and transportation budgets should prices continue to rise at a steady rate.

“Shippers will have to pay to get their goods to market even as the price of fuel increases,” a shipper told LM. “The fuel surcharge (FSC) is not necessarily an evil thing.”