DOE Diesel Up 3.5 Cents to $5.348, West-Gulf Spread at 98.9 Cents

The EIA weekly on-highway diesel survey priced Monday, August 3 at $5.348/gal, up 3.5 cents on the week and 41% above the 5-year median for this calendar week. At the stated 6.5 mpg reference, that is 82.3 cents a mile of fuel. The week's move adds about $2.69 to the fuel cost of a 500-mile haul.

• Rocky Mountain (PADD 4) diesel: $5.285/gal, up 3% week over week, the largest regional gain in this week's EIA on-highway survey. The region sits 39% above its 5-year median.
• Lower Atlantic (PADD 1C): $5.168/gal, down 2% on the week, the only EIA survey region with a meaningful decline. It remains 38% above its 5-year median.
• Gulf Coast (PADD 3): $5.141/gal, up 1% on the week. At 49% above its 5-year median, the Gulf Coast carries the widest vs-normal reading of any region in the EIA survey this week.
• California reads $6.716/gal, up 1% on the week and 36% above its 5-year median. The West Coast (PADD 5) as a whole sits at $6.130/gal, paying 98.9 cents/gal over the Gulf Coast (PADD 3).

EIA's daily ULSD spot series placed New York Harbor at $4.103/gal and the Gulf Coast hub at $4.105/gal as of July 27. These are bulk, untaxed wholesale prices, not pump prices. They frame where retail came from, not what operators paid. WTI crude (Cushing spot) settled at $84.25/bbl and Brent (Europe spot) at $91.82/bbl as of the same date. Crude is roughly half the cost of a gallon at the pump, with a lag of days to weeks before a hub move reaches retail.

Data note: ULSD spot prices and crude benchmarks reflect July 27 settlement data, one week behind the Monday, August 3 retail survey.