August 18,2015-
The Visalia Costco boasts the lowest price for diesel in the state according to Gas Buddy – selling the fuel for $2.29 a gallon today. That’s half the price Tulare County residents had to fork out just a few years ago. The California average price this week is $2.94. The low price for diesel is in marked contrast to regular gas price averaging around $3.58 this week and heading down slowly. California diesel prices have not been this low since 2009, a boon for farmers, truckers and pickup drivers.
The EIA says in July, the US average diesel fuel retail price fell below the average regular gasoline retail price for the first time since August 2009. From August 2009 through June 2015, retail diesel fuel sold at an average premium of US$0.34/gal over regular grade gasoline, with the difference reaching more than US$0.90/gal in January.
The persistent price premium for diesel compared with gasoline from August 2009 until last week reflected a combination of factors including strong global demand for diesel, federal fuel taxes for diesel that are US$0.06/gal higher than those for gasoline, and the higher production cost of ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) that was phased in between 2006 and 2010.
Gasoline and diesel have opposite seasonal demand patterns: gasoline demand tends to peak in the summer driving months, while diesel demand generally peaks in the winter heating months.