Fuel Prices Drop Slightly Despite OPEC’s Recent Decision

Diesel and gasoline prices moved down slightly this week, despite economic indicators that would typically push them higher. The national average for a gallon of diesel increased one cent this week to $2.84, while Washington’s average for diesel slipped one cent to $3.28, and Oregon also ticked down one penny to $3.15 a gallon. Patrick DeHaan with GasBuddy.com said oil and diesel prices dropped down slightly following the news OPEC nations would continue trimmed production through 2018. DeHaan added a cold front moving into the Great Lakes and New England region will have a more immediate impact on your diesel prices in the weeks to come.

“When the eastern half of the country, gets very cold that of course affects how much heating oil is consumed especially in the Northeast a corridor of the country that still relies on oil, so when you have very cold temperatures, we tend to see higher demand for heating oil and those heavy oils, and that can cause prices to lift.”

But, don’t be fooled, OPEC’s decision will impact our fuel prices over the long haul DeHaan told the Washington ag Network you need to look at last year’s inventory cut to give you an idea what to expect in the future.

“Oil inventories in the U.S. have declined by close to 120 million barrels. Certainly a sizeable amount. And so the tightening from OPEC will most likely continue to lead to tighter U.S. oil inventories and that will likely contributed to higher oil prices.”

As far as the lowest prices we could find across the Inland Northwest: