The national average price per gallon for diesel gasoline continued its rapid upward climb, for the week of October 11, according to data issued this week by the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA).
With a 10.9-cent increase, the national average came in at $3.586 per gallon, its highest level since the week of December 1, 2014, when it came in at $3.605 per gallon. And it is the highest single increase, since September 4, 2017, which saw a 15.3-cent increase, due to Hurricane Harvey.
This followed a 7.1-cent increase, to $3.477 per gallon, for the week of October 4, which, at the time, marked its highest weekly increase since the week of March 8, when it also headed up 7.1 cents.
And it was preceded by a a 2.1-cent increase, to $3.406, for the week of September 27, which followed 1.3-cent increase, to $3.385, which came on the heels of a 0.001-cent decrease, to $3.372, for the week ending September 13, and a 3.4-cent gain, to $3.373, for the week ending September 6, and a 1.5-cent increase, to $3.339, for the week of August 30.
This activity was preceded by a 3.2-cent decline, to $3.324 per gallon, for the week of August 23, a 0.008-cent decrease, to $3.356 per gallon, for the week of August 16. That followed 0.003-cent decrease, to $3.364, for the week of August 9. Those two consecutive weeks of minimal decreases were preceded by a 2.5-cent increase, to $3.367, for the week of August 2, which was preceded by a 0.02-cent decline, to $3.342, for the week of July 26, the first decline it saw in 12 weeks, at the time.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil is currently trading at $79.72 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The gains in gas and oil prices, in recent weeks, which a recent New York Times report noted have seen prices head up by about a quarter in the last month, are related to what the report called a looming tight market, as well as concerns about the Delta variant of the coronavirus slowing the global economic recovery.