Source: EIA

Source: EIA

Diesel prices finally dropped after a month and half streak of weekly increases, according to the latest numbers from the Energy Department.

The average price of on-highway diesel fuel fell by 1.2 cents last week, settling at 2.585 per gallon at the pump. The price is now 47.3 cents more expensive than it was in the same week a year ago.

Prices were down in all regions of the U.S. with the largest decrease coming to Gulf Coast region at 1.9 cents for the week. The lease change was observed in the Midwest, where prices dropped by 0.6 cents in the same period.

Gasoline prices were also down for the week, with the national average price of regular gasoline falling 3 cents last week to $2.358 per gallon. The price is currently 44.4 cents more expensive than it was in the same week of 2016.

Prices fluctuated significantly based on the region, with a particularly large decrease in prices hitting the Midwest at 6.1 cents. Prices were actually up in the Rocky Mountain region, increasing 0.5 cents for the week.

Crude oil prices were up on Dec. 17 but lost some of the gains when a new report suggested that U.S. shale oil production would ramp up in February, according to a MarketWatch report.  

Prices climbed when a Saudi oil minister said that the recently negotiated agreement to curb oil production in OPEC countries would rebalance the oil market by the year’s end.

However, the resulting oil prices gains have caused U.S. oil production to ramp up again as it becomes profitable enough for the U.S. shale oil to make a comeback, hindering a full rally.

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