In The News
Diesel prices inch down after big boost last week
After diesel prices shot up last week because of Hurricane Harvey’s damage to Houston area-based oil refineries, average national on-highway diesel actually went down 1.6 cents a gallon Monday, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported.
The national average rang up at $2.786 Monday compared with $2.802 last week.
Three of the EIA’s 10 reporting regions still showed increasing prices at the pump, but each was up less than a penny. They were: New England, where diesel went up 4 tenths of a penny to $2.765 from $2.761 the week before; the West Coast, where it went up a tenth of a penny to $3.103 a gallon from $3.102 the week prior and the West Coast Less California, where diesel increased by 2 tenths of a penny to $3.009 a gallon compared with $3.007 last week.
After posting a 5 percent gain last week, U.S. oil prices settled little changed on Monday. Meanwhile, traders were watching for an extension to the OPEC-led production cut and expectations for U.S. crude output.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, October West Texas Intermediate crude settled at $49.91 a barrel.
November Brent crude lost 14 cents, or 0.3 percent, to settle at $55.48 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange.
One senior petroleum analyst said prices were going back and forth, with the rig count hitting its lowest point since June and oil inventories continuing to rise because of Hurricane Harvey’s impact on Gulf refiners.
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