Labor Day Holiday Heralds Lowest Diesel Fuel Prices in Years
As Americans take to the roads this holiday weekend, significantly lower diesel prices are fueling more driving than ever.
On Friday, as the Labor Day weekend started, the national average for a gallon of diesel fuel was $2.558, a significant drop from $3.800 one year ago. A gallon of regular gasoline was $2.42, a decrease of nine cents from last week and $1.01 lower than last year’s price, according to the AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report.
The current average price of a gallon of diesel fuel in New York State is now $2.943, a drop of $1.19 from the same period last year and a price lower than that of premium fuel, according to AAA figures. The average price for a gallon of gasoline in the state is $2.602, down more than a dollar from a year ago when it was $3.698.
In the state of Georgia, the average price of a gallon of diesel is $2.55 per gallon, compared to $3.769 in the same period in 2014. Gas there costs $2.254, down from $3.357 one year ago.
Over 8,000 gas stations in 24 states – roughly 5% of the total – have prices below $2 per gallon, a dramatic shift since Labor Day in 2014, where gasoline was simply not available at that price anywhere in the country.
Over 35,5 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more during the holiday weekend, the largest number since 2008 and a 1% year-over-year increase, according to figures released by several regional AAA clubs, which said that 86% of these travelers will drive.
Part of the decline in prices has been attributed to the historic nuclear deal with Iran, the country with the world’s fourth-largest oil reserves, which is now able to sell its oil to the western world. The deal has the potential of adding one million barrels of crude oil to the market per day once the country ramps up production but even a modest increase in that country’s output has had the ability to dramatically impact oil prices.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
