Diesel Price Flat After 0.5¢ Dip
The U.S. retail diesel average price was unchanged atÌý$2.426Ìýafter a 0.5-cent dip the prior week, the Department of Energy reported.
The diesel price declined only twice in 18 weeks, DOE reported after its June 27 survey of fueling stations. Trucking’s main fuel is 41.7 cents cheaper than a year ago.
The averageÌýdiesel price increased in the Lower Atlantic, Midwest, Rocky Mountain andÌýWest Coast regions and in California, where it increased the most at 1.7 cents.
Diesel declined 1.1 cents in the Gulf Coast and dipped 0.7 cent in the Central Atlantic region, according to the Energy Information Administration.
The national average price for regular gasoline dropped 2.4 cents to $2.329 a gallon, DOE said. The average is 47.2 cents cheaper than a year ago.
Oil capped the biggest two-day drop since February onÌýJune 27, as futures remained volatile after the U.K.ÌývotedÌýlast week to leave the European Union. Futures tumbled 2.8% in New York, extending theÌý4.9% slump on June 24, the biggest drop in four months.
West Texas Intermediate for August delivery fell $1.31 to settle at $46.33 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It’s the lowest close since June 16 and caps a two-day decline of 7.5%.
"A chill has come over the market due to the Brexit vote because it brings with it the prospect of slower economic growth and lower oil demand," John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital, a New York hedge fund focused on energy, told Bloomberg News. "The dollar is higher, which is putting pressure on commodities as a whole."
Drivers are taking advantage of the lowest gasoline prices since 2005, as nearly 43 million Americans are expected to travel for Independence Day, the highest volume on record, according to AAA in its annual July 4 travel forecast, Bloomberg reported.
Five million more Americans are expected to travel on the July 4 weekend than they did this past Memorial Day weekend, AAA forecasts.
"School’s out, people are starting to vacation, and they’re driving instead of flying," John Auers, executive vice president at Turner Mason & Co., a Dallas-based energy consultancy, told Bloomberg. "We’ll see strong demand all summer."
Americans used an average of 9.72 million barrels of gasoline a day in the four weeks ending June 17, the highest level recorded since the Energy Information Administration started collecting weekly consumption data in 1991.
U.S. average fuel price on 6/27/16 = $2.426/gal, same as week ago — EIA (@EIAgov)
