Average retail pump prices in the U.S. for both diesel and gasoline increased slightly this week, according to data tracked by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), though prices for both remain at historically low levels.
The average retail price for diesel in the U.S. inched up 3/10ths of a penny this week to $1.983 per gallon, EIA reported, though that is 91.7 cents lower per gallon compared to the same week in 2015.
Price increases occurred in two of the four regions of the country where diesel remains below the $2 per gallon mark:
The Midwest, up 1.3 cents to $1.921 per gallon
The Gulf Coast, up 1.5 cents to $1.873
The Rocky Mountains, down 5/10ths of a penny to $1.861
The Lower Atlantic, down 3/10ths of a penny to $1.944
Retail diesel prices on the West Coast, with California excluded, jumped up slightly by 7/10ths of a penny to $2.05 per gallon this week, EIA said. However, diesel in California declined 2.8 cents to $2.288 per gallon, so when included, the West Coast’s average dipped 1.3 cents to $2.181.
Average retail prices for gasoline increased 6/10ths of a penny this week to $1.73 per gallon, which is 60.2 cents cheaper per gallon compared to the same week in 2015, EIA noted.
A big 8.7 cent spike in the average retail price of gasoline in the Midwest region to $1.609 per gallon is responsible for that uptick in national retail average prices, counterbalanced by a 7.6 cent decline in West Coast prices to $2.141 per gallon (which becomes a 6.3 cent decline to $1.875 with California’s prices removed from the mix).
