Back to November 2025 Industry Update
November 2025 Industry Update: Fuel Prices
Average fuel prices fell sharply in October as weakening global demand, amidst excess supply concerns, continue to mount.
Key Points
- The national average price of diesel declined in October, dropping just over $0.07 MoM from $3.748/gallon in September to $3.679/gallon.
- Compared to October 2024, diesel prices were up 2.6%, or just over $0.09.
- Builds on U.S. Commercial Crude Inventories outpaced draws in October, with inventories rising by +4.6M bbls and outperforming the consensus build of +1.4M bbls for the weeks ending October 3 and October 31.
Summary
After moderating over the last few months before remaining virtually unchanged in September, average diesel prices declined sharply in October, registering their steepest monthly decrease since March. National benchmark prices fell just over $0.07 MoM, reversing the stability seen in September. Despite the sharp contraction, average retail diesel prices remained more than $0.09 higher than year-ago levels, representing the second-largest annual increase YTD behind September’s $0.19 YoY gain.
On a weekly basis, the Department of Energy (DOE)/Energy Information Administration (EIA) benchmark diesel price trended lower for most of the month. After modest increases in late September totaling roughly $0.02, prices declined for three consecutive weeks in October, falling a cumulative $0.13 to reach $3.620 per gallon, the lowest level since mid-June. The downtrend ended abruptly in the final week of the month as diesel prices rebounded nearly $0.10 week over week, the largest weekly increase since late June, closing out October slightly above early-month levels.