The U.S. average price for trucking’s primary fuel drops another 6.2 cents to $4.185 per gallon as per-barrel oil prices plummet, and the possibility emerges that diesel may soon sink to $4 or lower. The EIA predicts it will reach those levels in late 2023–2024. However, diesel is already $1 (94.9 cents) cheaper than a year ago.
AAA’s U.S. diesel average was $4.284 on Mar. 21, down 5.5 cents from last week. It declined the most in the Rocky Mountain region (8.1 cents to $4.35), followed by the Midwest (7.3 cents to $4.021) and the Gulf Coast (6.8 cents to $3.93). In the New England subregion of the East Coast, it was down 7.4 cents to $4.657.
U.S. Energy Information Administration
Diesel prices on the West Coast fell 3.6 cents to $4.862/gallon; in California, the most expensive in the nation at $5.260/gallon, it dropped 5.2 cents. U.S. average gasoline prices, used by many consumers and small commercial fleets, fell 3.4 cents to $3.422, 81.7 cents lower than a year ago. Gasoline declined in every region except the Lower Atlantic, according to EIA.
Oil Slumps Amid Financial Sector Scramble
Substantially cheaper fuel—diesel and gasoline—might be coming due to oil prices plummeting, with WTI approaching $65/barrel and Brent hovering around $75. Futures contracts for WTI and Brent have fallen 2.34% and 2.4%, respectively. Oil production and refining are steady, and the EIA predicts oil prices will remain low through 2024. The recent collapse is mainly attributed to new uncertainty in the financial sector due to bank failures and instability at Credit Suisse.
U.S. Energy Information Administration
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, remarked that the recent banking system failures had put enough downward pressure on oil prices to relieve the rise in national average gasoline prices temporarily. According to GasBuddy, the top 10% of stations in the country averaged $5.32/gal of diesel this week, while the bottom 10% averaged $3.56/gal. The states with the lowest average diesel prices were Oklahoma ($3.70), Texas ($3.75), and Kansas ($3.87), while those with the highest were Hawaii ($5.94), California ($5.46) and Maine ($5.13).
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