Diesel pump prices fell for a fifth straight week. The national on-highway average for trucking’s primary fuel was $4.146 per gallon on Monday, Nov. 27, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Gasoline prices also continued to slide this week.
Diesel prices are 6 cents lower per gallon than last week. According to the federal agency, national pump prices have fallen 40 cents since the Oct. 23 spike and are 99.5 cents lower than they were this week last year. Motor club AAA was tracking diesel prices higher on Nov. 27—$4.229 per gallon—but its figures were a dollar less than last year.
Recent declines in crude oil prices and low refining margins suggest that fuel prices could remain relatively low through the end of the year, according to the EIA. Crude oil costs account for about half the monthly average U.S. retail on-highway diesel fuel prices.
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The $4.146 per gallon national average is the lowest since $4.127 on July 31. That price followed 12 straight weeks of sub-$4 per gallon national averages. Since then, on-highway pump prices have averaged above $4 per gallon.
According to the EIA, average prices across the Midwest dropped 9.2 cents per gallon, the most significant regional decrease this week. The West Coast, home to the most expensive fuel nationwide, also saw substantial reductions over Thanksgiving. Excluding California, the region’s diesel average dropped 8.1 cents per gallon. California’s 6.3 cent decrease paced the national average.
The Gulf Coast ($3.793/gal.) remains the only major U.S. region where diesel retails for less than $4 per gallon. But in the Lower Atlantic, a subregion of the East Coast ($4.121/gal.), diesel is down to $3.959 per gallon this week. California’s pump prices sit at $5.579 per gallon this week, the most expensive in the nation.
Gasoline prices down 30 cents year-over-year
Gasoline pump prices were down to a national average of $3.238 per gallon on Nov. 27, according to EIA. That is a 5.1-cent drop from the previous week. Prices for the consumer and work truck fuel is 29.6 cents less per gallon than this time last year. AAA was tracking national regular gasoline prices at $3.25 per gallon on Monday, also 29.6 cents less than this week in 2022.
The most significant gas price drop was in the Midwest, where unleaded fuel averages $3.031 per gallon, 9.3 cents less than last week. The Rocky Mountains ($3.106/gal.) saw a 9.1-cent gasoline price drop this week, while the East Coast ($3.155/gal.) was down just 1.1 cents.
The most affordable gasoline in the nation can be found in Gulf Coast states, with an average $2.71 per gallon pump price, down 7.6 cents this week. The most expensive gasoline is in California ($4.719/gal.), where prices fell 5 cents this week. The rest of the West Coast (excluding the Golden State) averages $3.968 per gallon this week, a 6.5-cent drop from Nov. 20.
