Diesel tops $3.90 per gallon   

Weekly retail on-highway U.S. diesel prices continued to climb, rising to $3.908 per gallon, a 3.7 cent increase over the prior week to top $3.90 per gallon for the first time since September 29, 2008. This follows a remarkable 29.8 cent increase over the prior two weeks. Diesel prices have risen 93% since bottoming out at $2.023 on March 16, 2009. More recently, diesel is up 32% since late September, when the price was $2.951 per gallon. A view of weekly prices over the last 3 years is ominous, as 2011 is starting off with much higher prices than seen in 2009 or 2010 (second graph). With the economy showing glimmers of hope and the Fed intent on a weak dollar to support exports, a return to 2008 diesel fuel prices is looking much more likely. Diesel prices peaked at $4.764 per gallon in July of 2008 and were above $3 per gallon from September 24, 2007 to November 3, 2008 (over 13 months) and have been back over $3 since October 4, 2010 (only 5 months).