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December 30, 1999 10:35 AM, EST

Diesel fuel prices finished 1999 at $1.298 a gallon after a roller-coaster ride over the year. While analysts do not expect similar wild fluctuations during 2000, they intend to keep a close watch on global crude oil output.

	Fuel Prices
	Week of Dec. 27:
	source	price	change
	DOE	129.8	+1.1
	Comdata	127.2	+0.6
	OPIS self-serve	128.4	+0.5
	OPIS wholesale	74.3	+4.3

The national average price rose 1.1 cents Dec. 27, jumping from the previous week’s level of $1.287 a gallon and reversing three consecutive weekly drops, according to the Energy Information Administration. It was the second-highest figure for 1999.

Last year started with the national average continuing a decline from 1998. On Jan. 4, diesel cost 96.5 cents a gallon. On Feb. 23, it hit 95.3 cents, the rock-bottom price for the decade. Three weeks later, the figure breached the $1 mark after a 15-week run below a dollar and kept rising during the ensuing months. It reached a three-year high of $1.304 on Nov. 29.

Also last week, wholesale diesel prices rose to 74.3 cents a gallon — more than twice the level at the end of 1998. The wholesale increase is the stiffest since the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

For the full story, see the Jan. 3 print edition of Transport Topics. .