Diesel Costs Keep Climbing, But at Slower Pace

Diesel prices continued to rise this week, albeit at a much slower pace than in recent weeks.

The national average for a gallon of diesel climbed slightly more than a penny to $4.389 for the week ending Aug. 21, according to Energy Information Administration records. While this is a far cry from the previous week’s 14-cent jump, it still reflects higher pump prices in three of the U.S.’s five regions.

The Rocky Mountain region saw the largest price spike, with a gallon of diesel clocking in at $4.50, an increase of more than 10 cents.

West Coast prices climbed at a slower pace, rising 5.4 cents to $5.14 a gallon. Prices on the East Coast added only 2 cents for the week to close out at $4.422 per gallon.  

Gulf Coast prices were perfectly flat for the week — a fairly rare occurrence — beginning and ending the week at $4.095 per gallon.

The only region where prices dropped was the Midwest, where a gallon of diesel fell by 1.5 cents to end the week at $4.302

Despite recent cost spikes, prices at the pump are still down from last year; a gallon of diesel cost 52 cents more during the same week in 2022.