The national diesel average, for the week of February 5, headed up for the second straight week, according to data issued this week by the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA).
With a 3.2-cent increase, national average came in at $3.899 per gallon, following a 2.9-cent increase, to $3.867, for the week of January 29, and a 2.5-cent decrease, to $3.838, for the week of January 22. That was preceded by a 3.5-cent increase, to $3.863 per gallon, for the week of January 15, a 4.8-cent decrease, to $3.828, for the week of January 8, and a 3.8-cent decrease, to $3.876, for the week of January 1. This marked the first weekly increase since the week of December 25, which saw a 2.0-cent increase, to $3.914, and snapped an eight-week stretch of declines, for a total of 56.0 cents over that period. With this week’s decrease, the national average has been down in 13 of the last 17 weeks and 10 of the last 13 weeks.
Prior to the week of December 18, when the national average fell 9.3 cents, to $3.894 per gallon, the national average was off 10.5 cents to $3.987, for the week of December 11. That was preceded by a 5.4-cent decline, to $4.092 per gallon, for the week of December 4, a 6.3-cent decline, to $4.146 per gallon, for the week of November 27, an 8.5-cent decline, to $4.209 per gallon, a 7.2-cent decline, to $4.294 per gallon, for the week of November 13, and an 8.8-cent decline, to $4.366, for the week of November 6.
What’s more, the national average has been below the $4 per gallon mark over the past seven weeks, going back to December 18, marking the first weeks the national average fell below that level since coming in at $3.905 for the week of July 24.
Compared to the same week a year ago, the national average was down 64.0 cents, narrower than the 75.5-cent and 83.1-cent annual decreases, for the weeks of January 29 and January 22, respectively. The average price per barrel of WTI crude is currently trading at $73.47 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down from $77.55 a week ago at this time.