Diesel surge continues

The trend of higher diesel prices continued with the release of the latest weekly report from the Energy Information Administration.

According to the EIA report, the national average price per gallon is now $3.586, up from $3.477 last week.

By region, the Central Atlantic saw the biggest jump in price at 13.3 cents. The Gulf Coast wasn’t far behind with a 13.2-cent increase. Additionally, four other regions reported an increase of more than 10 cents.

The highest average price per gallon is $4.425 in California, and the national average price is now $1.191 higher than one year ago.

Average U.S. price for a gallon of diesel on Oct. 11 as reported by the EIA:

• U.S. – $3.586, up 10.9 cents.
• East Coast – $3.562, up 12.6 cents.
• New England – $3.459, up 12.4 cents.
• Central Atlantic – $3.705, up 13.3 cents.
• Lower Atlantic – $3.484, up 12.2 cents.
• Midwest – $3.538, up 10.8 cents.
• Gulf Coast – $3.335, up 13.2 cents.
• Rocky Mountain – $3.673, up 3.3 cents.
• West Coast – $4.133, up 6.1 cents.
• West Coast without California – $3.784, up 6.7 cents.
• California – $4.425, up 5.6 cents.

ProMiles.com reports the average U.S. retail price per gallon for diesel increased by 8.9 cents to $3.438, according to an Oct. 11 report.

A key difference between the EIA and ProMiles reporting is the type and number of fueling stations the company surveys in order to calculate its averages. While EIA surveys 400 truck stops and convenience stores nationwide, ProMiles uses its direct feed from thousands of truck stops to develop its averages.

Prices rose by as much as 10.1 cents in the Central Atlantic and Gulf Coast regions, this week. Three more regions saw an increase of more than nine cents.

Here are the average U.S. prices for a gallon of diesel reported for each region by ProMiles.com:

• U.S. – $3.438, up 8.9 cents.
• East Coast – $3.465, up 9.6 cents.
• New England – $3.351, up 6.2 cents.
• Central Atlantic – $3.609, up 10.1 cents.
• Lower Atlantic – $3.379, up 9.8 cents.
• Midwest – $3.402, up 9.4 cents.
• Gulf Coast – $3.225, up 10.1 cents.
• Rocky Mountain – $3.617, up 2.5 cents.
• West Coast – $3.955, up 7.5 cents.
• West Coast without California – $3.648, up 6.6 cents.
• California – $4.398, up 7.9 cents.

Click here to view ProMiles fuel data averaged by state.

AAA reported the retail average U.S. price per gallon of diesel at $3.466 for Oct. 11.

A week previous the average retail U.S. price for a gallon of diesel was $3.356 per gallon.

A month previous, AAA reported $3.294 per gallon of diesel, and a year ago $2.387 per gallon.

The highest recorded retail average U.S. diesel price was $4.845 per gallon on July 17, 2008, according to AAA. LL

Last week’s fuel report is here.