The Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported this week that the average price per gallon of diesel gasoline fell 2.5 cents to $2.539 per gallon.
This marks the first decline in the last six weeks, during which time the cumulative price rose, following gains of 1.5 cents, 0.2 cents, 0.7 cents, 0.7 cents, and 0.5 cents, respectively.
Compared to the same week a year ago, the average price per gallon is up 42 cents, which is down from last year’s annual spread of 46.5 cents.
The average price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate Crude is at $48.27 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, with the price dropping in recent weeks due to high inventories.
In its most recent Short-Term Energy Outlook, the EIA is calling for diesel prices to average out at $2.73 in 2017 and $2.84 in 2018, with WTI crude oil pegged at $52.50 per barrel in 2017 and $55.18 in 2018.