Office of Operations Freight Management and Operations

Figure 5-2: Monthly Diesel Prices (cents per gallon)

Diesel prices were about 16 percent higher in March 2004 than 10 years earlier (in inflation-adjusted terms). Over that period prices bottomed out in March 1999 at just under $1.00 a gallon (in current dollars). Except for the period July 2001 through September 2002, prices have generally been above the $1.40 mark since February 2000 (also in current dollars).

See paragraph above and table below for explanation of Figure 5-2

Data represented in the figure
Table in Excel format

Date Current Real ($ January 2004)
Mar-1994110.7139.8
Apr-1994110.7139.7
May-1994110.0138.6
Jun-1994110.3138.5
Jul-1994111.0139.0
Aug-1994112.3140.1
Sep-1994112.5140.0
Oct-1994112.2139.5
Nov-1994113.1140.3
Dec-1994111.3137.8
Jan-1995109.8135.6
Feb-1995108.8133.9
Mar-1995108.8133.6
Apr-1995110.4135.1
May-1995112.6137.5
Jun-1995112.0136.5
Jul-1995110.0133.9
Aug-1995110.5134.3
Sep-1995111.9135.8
Oct-1995111.5135.0
Nov-1995112.0135.4
Dec-1995113.0136.4
Jan-1996114.5137.5
Feb-1996114.5137.2
Mar-1996118.3141.3
Apr-1996127.5151.8
May-1996127.3151.3
Jun-1996120.1142.4
Jul-1996117.6139.1
Aug-1996120.1141.9
Sep-1996126.5149.0
Oct-1996132.3155.4
Nov-1996132.3154.8
Dec-1996130.9152.9
Jan-1997129.1150.5
Feb-1997128.0148.9
Mar-1997122.9142.9
Apr-1997121.2140.9
May-1997119.6138.9
Jun-1997117.3136.0
Jul-1997115.1133.3
Aug-1997116.5134.6
Sep-1997116.0133.7
Oct-1997118.3136.0
Nov-1997119.2136.9
Dec-1997116.6133.9
Jan-1998112.0128.4
Feb-1998108.4124.4
Mar-1998106.3121.9
Apr-1998106.7122.2
May-1998106.9122.2
Jun-1998104.1118.8
Jul-1998102.9117.1
Aug-1998100.7114.6
Sep-1998102.4116.4
Oct-1998103.9117.7
Nov-1998102.2115.7
Dec-199897.3110.0
Jan-199996.7109.0
Feb-199995.9108.2
Mar-199999.7112.4
Apr-1999107.9120.9
May-1999107.3120.1
Jun-1999107.4120.2
Jul-1999112.2125.0
Aug-1999117.2130.3
Sep-1999121.5134.5
Oct-1999122.8135.7
Nov-1999126.3139.4
Dec-1999129.2142.2
Jan-2000135.6148.8
Feb-2000146.1159.7
Mar-2000147.9160.7
Apr-2000142.2154.6
May-2000142.0154.1
Jun-2000142.1153.3
Jul-2000143.4154.3
Aug-2000146.6157.7
Sep-2000163.7175.2
Oct-2000163.7174.9
Nov-2000162.1172.9
Dec-2000156.5166.5
Jan-2001152.4161.2
Feb-2001149.2157.6
Mar-2001139.9147.7
Apr-2001142.2149.7
May-2001149.6156.7
Jun-2001148.2154.8
Jul-2001137.5144.0
Aug-2001139.0145.4
Sep-2001149.5156.0
Oct-2001134.8141.1
Nov-2001125.9131.8
Dec-2001116.7122.3
Jan-2002115.3120.6
Feb-2002115.2120.3
Mar-2002123.0128.1
Apr-2002130.9135.5
May-2002130.5135.1
Jun-2002128.6132.9
Jul-2002129.9134.1
Aug-2002132.8136.6
Sep-2002141.1144.9
Oct-2002146.2149.9
Nov-2002142.0145.4
Dec-2002142.9146.2
Jan-2003148.8151.7
Feb-2003165.4167.8
Mar-2003170.8172.5
Apr-2003153.3155.3
May-2003145.1147.1
Jun-2003142.4144.2
Jul-2003143.5145.1
Aug-2003148.7149.7
Sep-2003146.7147.2
Oct-2003148.1148.8
Nov-2003148.2149.2
Dec-2003149.0149.7
Jan-2004155.1155.1
Feb-2004158.2157.8
Mar-2004162.9161.7
Apr-2004169.2167.6
May-2004174.6171.9
Jun-2004171.1167.9

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Agency, U.S. Petroluem Prices, available at www.eia.doe.gov as of July 15, 2004.

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