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March 6, 2001 8:15 AM, EST

The U.S. average pump price for diesel fuel fell 3.1 cents in the past week, to 142.0 cents per gallon as of Monday, the Energy Department reported.

That marks the continuation of a downward trend that began Feb. 5. The latest price is the lowest since 141.0 cents last Aug. 7, according to historical data tables from the U.S. Energy Information Agency.

The average price declined in all five of the department’s U.S. regional listings, in-cluding the West Coast where pump prices kept rising longer than elsewhere.

The EIA surveys 350 fueling stations at the start of each week, and reports the results late on the same day that it polls the stations.

The agency also said its average price for all grades of gasoline also fell again in the latest week, to 145.7 cents a gallon as of March 5 from 147.1 on Feb. 26.