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It costs how much for California diesel? by Terrence Nguyen, web editor Aug 10, 2005 4:12 PM
Today in California diesel prices averaged $3.04 per gallon, which is almost a 4-cent increase over yesterday’s average of $3.003, according to the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS). Yesterday was also perhaps the first time any state posted diesel prices that shattered the $3 barrier. In light of this, we thought it’d be appropriate to reiterate some Fuel-sipping tips. Last week the average price for a gallon of diesel soared 20.7 cents to $2.801 in the West Coast and 28.6 cents to $2.943 in California, after a major refinery there caught fire in late July, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). According to the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS), today California diesel prices stand at $3.003. An OPIS analyst told DRIVERS that there are indications that West Coast prices may plateau and eventually fall in the coming weeks. “The markets are starting to calm down behind us,” said Denton Cinquegrana, OPIS markets editor. “The Chevron [refinery] is expected to be restarted closer to the end of this week and that will hopefully help cool the market. It’ll take a little while before [the refinery] gets back to the rates they’re running at—it’ll be maybe another week before supplies start hitting the market. “On the spot market, prices have been pretty flat,” he continued. “Basically, there are more sellers in the market and that’s a good sign. We saw California prices rise above $3 today. I think we might have seen a short-term peak in diesel prices. The only thing that will help it is when [the refinery] comes back online.” “Yesterday crude oil prices closed at $63.94 which marks the highest close,” said Doug MacIntyre, senior oil market analyst with EIA, adding that petroleum demand remains high with little extra inventory to “cushion” supply disruptions. This goes especially for California because the cleaner diesel mandated at the pumps is produced primarily in the state itself. “Any glitch in the system is going to send prices up because there’s no slack available to make up for it.” The national average price rose a much more modest 5.9 cents to $2.407. All regions posted an increase, but the most stable prices were in New England, which posted only a 0.4-cent increase to $2.492. The cheapest region in which to fill up was the Gulf Coast, despite a 4.4-cent hike to $2.323. |
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