Diesel prices head up for first time since June

After 18 weeks of declining or flat prices, the average price per gallon of diesel gasoline, went in a different direction this week: up.

The Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported this week that the average price per gallon rose 5.4 cents to $3.677 per gallon.

This marks the first increase since the week of June 23, when the weekly average headed up 3.7 cents to $3.919 per gallon.

On an annual basis, the average price per gallon is down 11.5 cents, and prices have fallen 39.8 cents since hitting a 2014 high of 4.021 during the week of March 10.

In its recently-issued Short Term Energy Outlook, the EIA pegged the average price for diesel prices in 2014 at $3.83 and $3.80 in 2015, with crude oil at $97.72 per barrel in 2014 and $94.58 in 2015.

The Wall Street Journal reported that sweet crude for December delivery fell $1.25, or 1.6%, to $77.40 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.