The average price per gallon of diesel fuel fell 7 cents to $3.535 last week, the steepest drop since the week of October 29, 2012. And the average price per gallon was at its lowest level since the week of February 14, 20111, when it was at $3.534/gallon, according to the US Department of Energy’s Information Administration.
In the past 23 weeks, the price of diesel fuel has increased only one week — the week of November 10. Annually, the average price per gallon is down 34.4 cents and prices have dropped 47.6 cents since hitting a high of $4.021/gallon during the week of March 10.
In its Short Term Energy Outlook, the energy department predicted that the average price per gallon of diesel fuel this year will be $3.82, while the average price in 2015 is expected to be $3.38.
Diesel fuel is used in the trucking industry, to power railroad locomotives and in some automobiles. Like gasoline, it is made from crude oil, which dropped to its lowest level in five years last month.
Oil prices have been going down since the decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced that it would not be cutting production levels despite a global downturn in the price of crude oil. That decision meant that production would remain capped at 30 million barrels per day, even though global demand was down, which in turn drove prices down even lower.