The cost of diesel has risen for the fourth consecutive week, leaving sub-$2 prices further back in the sideview mirror.
That average U.S. retail pump price for diesel jumped 7.8 cents in the March 14 report by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), to $2.099 per gallon. That’s the largest increase since August 2012. Still, the price is about $0.82 per gallon cheaper than this time last year and continues to hover at a level last seen seven years ago.
Prices were up in every region of the country led by the Lower Atlantic (+9.1 cents, $2.07), the Gulf Coast (+8.3 cents, $1.99) and the Midwest (+8.2 cents, $2.065).
In New England diesel was up 5.7 cents to $2.204 and the Central Atlantic region posted a 6.1 cent increase to $2.249.
Out West, a gallon of diesel was up 7.2 cents ($1.999) in the Rocky Mountain region and the West Coast less California saw a 5.6 cent increase to $2.153. California registered a 7.4 cent bump to $2.39, still the highest price in the contiguous 48 states.
The national average price for gasoline was up 1.2 cents to $1.961.
