Oil per barrel tumbles; but diesel still surging
OTTAWA -- Crude oil prices fell nearly $5 a barrel yesterday, only after hitting an all-time high of $111 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. When the dust settled, the price per barrel was at about $106, a few bucks below the record average over this last week. The slip in the market did little to relieve pressure at the pumps, however. Diesel continued to climb to over $4 a gallon average in the U.S., while gasoline dipped slightly to $3.2 a gallon -- which is still about 75 cents higher than this time last year. In Canada, the average diesel price at the pump (including tax) during the last week remained just over $1.20 a liter -- about 10 cents more than the cost of regular unleaded gas. Parts of Alberta posted some of the lower prices in the country. In the Calgary-Edmonton corridor, for example, the price was between $1.12 and $1.15. Certain regions in Ontario hovers near those levels, while in others, including the GTA, the price board is closer to $1.20. The highest diesel prices in Canada are in parts of Quebec and most of Atlantic Canada, where the bill can range anywhere from $1.25 to $1.35 per liter. The most expensive city to fill up your truck is in Labrador City, where the price hovered just decimal points below $1.40 for most of the week. -- Be sure to read more about the fuel crisis and its impact on carriers and shippers in the upcoming April print issue of Today's Trucking.