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November 12, 1999 12:36 PM, EST

Led by a 4-cent increase in California, the national average price of diesel fuel climbed a half-cent last week to match the high of 1999.

The Energy Information Administration reported the national average at $1.234 a gallon on Nov. 8 — matching the year’s high reached Oct. 4 — and the price in California at $1.469.

Diesel prices in California have gone up by 4 cents each of the last two weeks, a jump analysts have attributed to problems at refineries that make the state’s specially formulated fuel.

However, Stephanie Williams, director of environmental affairs at the California Trucking Association, is skeptical that the increases are due solely to problems at two refineries. She said the state’s mandate that diesel fuel sold in California be much lower in sulfur and aromatics than required by federal standards allows refineries in the state to have greater control over prices.

For the full story, see the Nov. 15 print edition of Transport Topics. .