Despite tensions in the Middle East, average diesel fuel prices last week dropped almost 2 cents from the week before, although they’re still 71 cents higher than a year earlier.

The national average on-highway diesel retail price, as reported by the Department of Energy on July 23, was $3.22 per gallon.

Prices fell in all regions of the country, with the biggest drop in the Midwest, down 2.9 cents per gallon to $3.142. As usual, the highest prices were in California, at $3.943, down 2.5 cents from the previous week, and the lowest were in the Gulf Coast region, which slipped below the $3 mark to $2.993 per gallon.

The national average price for regular gasoline was down 3.4 cents from a week ago to $2.831 per gallon. The price is 51.9 cents higher than a year ago.

Meanwhile, the headlines on crude oil prices are all over the place.

Tension between the United States and Iran raise concerns about disruptions to oil supply, with Iran even threatening to disrupt oil travel through the strait of Hormuz.

At the same time, right now there are concerns about oversupply, as crude supplies from Russia, Saudi Arabia and other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries have increased and some unscheduled production losses have eased.

CNBC reports that there are concerns that rising oil prices could trigger a recession; however, the boom in hydraulic fracturing in the U.S. could mitigate those effects. In fact, Tom Kloza with the Oil Price Information Service pointed out on Twitter last week that for the first time ever, U.S. crude production topped 11 million barrels per day and that "it will be much higher over the next 20 months."