Diesel average falls for 11th straight week, reports EIA

The national average price per gallon for diesel gasoline decreased for the 11th consecutive week, according to data issued this week by the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA).

This week’s national average—at $2.659—fell 7.4 cents compared to the week of March 16, which dropped 8.1 cents to $2.753. The average for the week of March 9 dropped 3.7 cents to $2.814. That was preceded by a 3.1-cent decline to $2.851 the week of March 2, which was preceded by a 0.008-cent decline to $2.882 the week of February 24 and the 4.6-cent decrease to $2.900 the week of February 17.

With this week’s decline, the national diesel average has now checked in under the $3 per gallon mark for eight consecutive weeks, going back to the week of February 3, at $2.956. Prior to the last eight weeks, diesel had not fallen below the $3 per gallon mark since the week of September 16, when it checked in at $2.987 and kicked off a 19-week stretch of $3 and above weekly averages.

On an annual basis, this week’s average is down 42.1 cents, with annual spreads of 33.7 cents, 26.5 cents and 22.5 cents, respectively.

Recent reports have noted that gasoline could fall below $2 a gallon in the coming weeks, driven by oil prices that are plunging after major producers failed to agree to a plan to prop up crude prices this past weekend and by fears of declining energy demand due to economic disruption from the coronavirus. 

On a Webcast recently hosted by San Francisco-based freight forwarding and customs brokerage services provider Flexport, Phil Levy, Flexport chief economist, explained that when the Coronavirus started to spread in China and Chinese factories started shutting down, a subsequent effect was the very sharp drop in energy prices, with oil prices dropping dramatically.

“That prompted OPEC to call for production restraint, and Russia refused to go along with that OPEC call, and, in response….there are now extraordinarily low energy prices,” said Levy.

West Texas Intermediate Crude oil is currently trading at $23.90 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down from last week’s $27.47 per barrel and off sharply from the $33.68 and $48.22 averages for the previous two weeks, respectively, prior to that.