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Diesel fuel prices reach all-time high

Diesel fuel prices reach all-time high

Diesel fuel prices equaled an all-time high last week, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

   The national on-highway average diesel price climbed 6 cents to peak at $3.157. The national average tied the previous high price for a gallon of diesel fuel, reached in the immediate aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. This price is up 64 cents per gallon over the same time last year.

   The East Coast reports price per gallon at $3.157 per gallon, rising more than 6 cents from last week and the year earlier.

   While prices fell rapidly following the 2005 hurricanes once production in the Gulf state refineries resumed, prices are unlikely to fall this time due to the high cost of oil. Light, sweet crude reached $94 per barrel on Monday, moving close to the inflation-adjusted highs hit in early 1980. Depending on the calculation, the all-time high for a barrel of crude would translate into somewhere between $96 and $101 per barrel today. Oil prices have jumped nearly $10 per barrel since Oct. 19, mainly fueled by tensions in the Middle East.

Weekly retail on-highway
diesel prices


(Average all types,

$
per gallon, including all taxes)



Region



10/15/07



10/22/07



10/29/07



Change from week ago



Change from



year ago


U.S.


$3.039


$3.094


$3.157


$0.063


$0.640


East Coast


$3.023


$3.078


$3.148


$0.070


$0.618


New England


$3.122


$3.182


$3.250


$0.068


$0.621


Central Atlantic


$3.125


$3.186


$3.251


$0.065


$0.605


Lower Atlantic


$2.970


$3.022


$3.095


$0.073


$0.623


Midwest


$3.025


$3.067


$3.122


$0.055


$0.621


Gulf Coast


$2.941


$2.994


$3.062


$0.068


$0.600


Rocky Mountain


$3.169


$3.229


$3.281


$0.052


$0.704


West Coast


$3.229


$3.323


$3.394


$0.071


$0.792

 


Source:

U.S. Energy Information Administration.