Diesel average declines for fourth consecutive week, EIA reports

The national average price per gallon for diesel gasoline dropped for the fourth consecutive week, according to data issued yesterday by the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA).

With a 2.1-cent decline, the current national diesel average is $3.317. This follows declines of 1.7-cents, 2.5-cents, and 1.4-cents, respectively, over the prior three weeks.

Prior to the last four weeks of declines, the weekly average price was $3.394 for the week ending October 15, which marked the single highest weekly average going back to the week of December 15, 2014, when it was at $3.419 per gallon, according to EIA data, and the average for the week ending October 8 was $3.385.

Over that eight-week stretch of gains, going back to the week of August 20 to the week of October 15, the national diesel average price increased by 18.7 cents over that span.

On an annual basis, this week’s $3.317 average is up 40.2 cents annually, which is down from annual spreads of 45.6 cents and 53.6 cents, respectively, over the previous two weeks.

West Texas Intermediate Crude is currently trading at $56.83 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. This is down sharply from October, when it was routinely above $70 per barrel.

Through Tuesday, November 12, oil prices had traded down for 12 straight days, with The Wall Street Journal reporting that the market is being impacted by fears of oversupply and weakening demand.

“Oil’s rapid decline is now fueling worries about weakness in the broader economy,” the WSJ report stated. “Ongoing trade disputes between the U.S. and China have darkened the outlook for global growth in recent months. Investors are now questioning whether crude’s plunge could spill over into other markets. The last time oil prices posted such a steep one-day slide, three years ago, crude was in the midst of a rout that eventually dragged down equity prices.”