Diesel prices averaged $3.82 for the week of March 10, up $0.16 from a week earlier, according to data compiled by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The average price has risen $0.54 in the past four weeks, up from $3.28 on Feb. 11.
Prices in some regions of the U.S., especially in the Northeast, are close to hitting an average of four dollars a gallon. The Central Atlantic region is averaging $3.99 per gallon, up from $2.72 one year ago today.
“Diesel is a runaway train right now,” Denton Cinquegrana, markets editor for the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS), told FleetOwner. “I really don’t know for sure when the sharp increases will stop.”
However, Cinquegrana added that he thinks the increases should level off sometime in the near future--because it’s hard to imagine them rising much higher. He said that the main reason for the rise is the price of crude oil, which hit an all-time high of $108 per barrel this week.