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Diesel inching towards $2-a-gallon mark

Diesel fuel inched closer to reaching the $2-a-gallon mark today, with the average national price at $2.130, down 5.6 cents from $2.186 last week.

The Midwest reporting region saw the largest decline, 6.6 cents. There, diesel was $2.071 compared with $2.137 the week before, reported the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the federal Department of Energy.

In the EIA’s gulf coast reporting area the cost of diesel fell 5.9 cents to $2.074, whereas it was $2.133 the week of Feb. 16.

The Rocky Mountain region took the smallest dip, 2.5 cents to $2.158 a gallon compared with $2.183 the prior week.

Click here to view diesel prices for the rest of the country.

Petroleum diesel is a No. 2 “distillate,” and refined from crude oil. No. 2 distillate also is used in making home heating oil.

Crude oil prices are determined by worldwide supply and demand, and increasing demand globally during the past few years has put pressure on available supplies, notes the EIA.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries or OPEC directly influences prices by setting production limits for its members, thus influencing supply and demand.