The average cost of diesel and gasoline mostly fell in the past week, although gas edged upward in the western United States.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that gasoline runs about $3.44 per gallon on average, down from $3.49. The average price of diesel fell from $4.62 to $4.54. Gasoline saw increases in the Rocky Mountain and West Coast regions.

What Are the Regional Prices?

Current average fuel prices by region (gasoline/diesel):

• East Coast: $3.41/$4.75

• Midwest: $3.30/$4.38

• Gulf Coast: $3.09/$4.25

• Rocky Mountain: $3.69/$4.74

• West Coast: $4.11/$5.09

What's Going On?

It’s the first time in 2023 that the national average for gasoline declined, which GasBuddy credited “to a sharp and sudden drop in the price of oil.”

Wrote Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy: “While the decline in both gas and diesel prices is terrific, it’s not unusual to see prices falling in February, which tends to be the month with some of the lowest gasoline prices of the year, thanks to seasonally weak demand. For diesel, we’re likely to see more declines, and potentially much more significant ones in the weeks ahead as imports of distillate have accelerated, leading to a sell-off. And, with warmer weather ahead, demand may struggle as well.”

The Rocky Mountain gas price increases could be attributed to a Colorado refinery outage, according to the EIA. The EIA reports that on Dec. 24, 2022, Suncor shut down its 103,000-barrel-per-day oil refinery in Commerce City after extreme cold weather damaged equipment. Repairs may delay operations until the end of Q1 2023.

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