The U.S. average price for diesel fuel dropped again for the week of May 15, sliding 2.5 cents to $3.897 a gallon and marking 14 of the last 15 weeks that trucking’s main fuel has fallen, according to the latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
This week’s decline followed a 9.6-cent price drop last week, the week of May 8, when the U.S. average fell below $4 for the first time since the first week of February 2022, shortly before worldwide fuel and crude markets were shocked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which helped launch diesel and gasoline in the U.S. on a sustained trajectory to the point where diesel reached a record of $5.81 per gallon by the week of June 20, 2022, roiling the business of trucking.
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Diesel still is historically higher, but it's now $1.716 per gallon cheaper than a year ago. Meanwhile, motor club AAA had diesel at a U.S. average of $4.012 on May 16, about to break the $4 threshold and down 3.4 cents from the week before. AAA has had diesel falling by about a penny a day for the last week.
EIA’s U.S. gasoline average for the week of May 15 ticked up a fraction of a penny to $3.536 per gallon, or 36.1 cents cheaper than diesel is now. Gas, used widely by consumers, is also pumped by smaller commercial fleets and work truckers. Some analysts, including GasBuddy's lead petroleum analyst Patrick De Haan, believe gas also is headed for significant price declines.
Diesel down more in U.S. regions, oil falling
Regionally, the diesel price drops were about on the level of the slight nationwide slide. However, trucking's main fuel fell more significantly in some subregions like New England, where diesel was off 13.1 cents but still above $4 at $4.243 per gallon, according to EIA. Along the East Coast, the fuel fell 5.4 cents to $3.932, powered below $4 by the average price in the Lower Atlantic, which fell 4.7 cents to $3.787, by far the lowest in the region.
In the Midwest, diesel was down only a fraction of a penny to $3.823 per gallon. Along the Gulf Coast, where the fuel is cheapest in the nation, it dropped 2 cents to $3.593. Haul freight farther west and the fuel gets more expensive: $4.089 per gallon in the Rocky Mountains (still down 1.6 cents) and $4.588 on the West Coast, which still is the priciest diesel in the U.S., primarily because of California (but is still off 4.2 cents from last week).
Slipping demand for diesel nationwide still seems to be driving diesel down in price, but the per-barrel price of crude oil appears to be doing its part, too. Oil is down more this week, with West Texas Intermediate hovering close to $70 and Brent at about $75. EIA also has lowered its 2024 crude forecast in its May Short-Term Energy Outlook, according to Oil & Gas Journal, FleetOwner's sister publication.
