The average retail price in the U.S. for a gallon of on-highway diesel fell 5 cents Monday to $3.326, according to the Energy Information Administration's (EIA) weekly fuel price report. The national average is 86.3 cents higher
than during the same week in 2007.
Nationwide, the average price of a gallon of Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) decreased to $3.341 today from $3.387 a week ago. Meanwhile, the average price across the country for a gallon of Low Sulfur Diesel (LSD) dropped 7.2 cents to $3.229.
Last Tuesday, the EIA released the January edition of its Short-Term Energy Outlook, which included energy price projections for 2008 and 2009. In the publication, EIA analysts predicted that diesel will average $3.41 per gallon in the first quarter of 2008, up 14 cents from its fourth quarter 2007 average of $3.27 per gallon. The statistical agency also believes that diesel will average $3.35 per gallon in the second quarter of 2008.
Longer-term, the EIA expects diesel prices to average $3.29 per gallon for all of 2008 and $3.15 per gallon in 2009. Diesel prices averaged a record $2.88 per gallon in 2007, costing our industry an estimated $110.9 billion ($7.6 billion more than we spent in 2006).