Diesel prices rise 3.7 cents, reports EIA

The average price per gallon of diesel gasoline headed up 3.7 cents to $2.165 per gallon, according to data issued this week by the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA).

This increase tops the 1.3 cent increase from a week ago, with this week’s price marking the seventh straight week the average price has been above the $2 per gallon mark, going back to the week of March 7 when it was at $2.021. During that period, it has risen a cumulative 13.9 cents.

On an annual basis, the average price per gallon is down 61.5 cents.

The current national average price for diesel at $2.165 is within close range of the projected 2016 average of $2.11 in the most recent Short-Term Energy Outlook issued by the EIA.

While prices have edged up in recent weeks, that has not been the norm by any stretch.

Shippers say that the decreases in diesel costs over the last several months is beneficial from a financial perspective, and after several years of high fuel costs, many shippers began tracking diesel much more closely.

In the past, diesel had cost more than gasoline because U.S. refineries export much of their diesel output. That leaves less available for the domestic market, and federal taxes are higher for diesel than for gasoline. But as gasoline demand has risen around the world, refineries are running full out worldwide to meet that demand, resulting in a relative glut of diesel fuel, experts say.

Oil analysts explain that the drop in diesel would indicate a worldwide glut in crude oil is becoming a glut in refined products as well. This could keep diesel prices at these depressed levels well into 2016, they say.

The benchmark U.S. crude contract was up 1.5 percengt at $41.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the Wall Street Journal reported.