The cost of diesel goes higher while NatGas goes down.
The U.S. retail diesel average increased 1.6 cents to $3.086 a gallon Feb. 5, the Department of Energy reported.
The rise follows an increase of 4.5 cents the prior week. Trucking’s main fuel is 52.8 cents more expensive than a year ago, DOE reported after its survey of fueling stations.
The average price of diesel increased in every region of the country, rising the most in New England and California, where it rose 2.8 cents, according to the Energy Information Administration.
The national average price for regular gasoline increased 3 cents to $2.637 a gallon, DOE said. The average is 34.4 cents cheaper than it was a year ago.
West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, topped $66 a barrel this year for the first time since 2014, extending a rally driven by the extension of production caps by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied producers.
While crude’s strong start to the year also was helped by dwindling American inventories and a weakening dollar, analysts have been cautioning about the potential for a surge in U.S. shale output, Bloomberg News reported.
“There is more supply coming to this market, and we are entering the period of the refineries’ maintenance,” John Kilduff, founding partner at Again Capital told Bloomberg. “We are going to see a hit to demand globally that is lowering global prices today.”
WTI for March delivery dropped $1.30, or 2%, to $64.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The decline adds to a 0.5% loss from Feb. 2.
Brent for April settlement lost 96¢ to $67.62, ending at about a four-week low on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.
