Diesel Drops 3.5¢ to $2.831; Gas Gains for First Time Since September
Oil Climbs Near $50 as Refinery Workers Strike Nine Plants
Diesel’s national average price fell 3.5 cents to $2.831 a gallon, a new five-year low, while gasoline rose for the first time since September, the Department of Energy reported Feb. 2.
Gas gained 2.4 cents to $2.068 a gallon, marking the first upturn since two gains of less than a penny in September and just the third since June.
The declines left diesel $1.12 under its price a year ago,Ìýand gas is $1.224 less than a year ago, DOE said after its weekly survey of fueling stations.
This week’s diesel price marks the lowest level since trucking’s primary fuel was $2.756 on Feb. 15, 2010.
Fuel prices have been in free-fall since June, with oil tumbling by more than half and diesel and gasoline each dropping more than $1 a gallon.
Crude oil futures rose $1.33 to finish Groundhog Day trading at $49.57 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest closing price in almost a month, Bloomberg News reported.
Oil, which bottomed out at an almost six-year low last week under $45 a barrel, gained almost $4 on Friday, and union workers at nine U.S. oil refineries went on strike this weekend, crimping production, Bloomberg reported.
Each week, DOE surveys about 400 diesel filling stations and 800 gasoline stations to compile national average prices.
