The price of diesel continued to inch its way downward Wednesday, Oct. 12, though it still remained stubbornly above the $3 per gallon mark.

ProMiles reported a national average price for diesel of $3.108 per gallon on Oct. 12, down less than a penny from the day before.

In addition, ProMiles reported drops in most states, though only nine states reported prices lower than $3 per gallon.

Meanwhile, crude oil prices jumped above $63 per barrel in midday trading on the New York Mercantile exchange on Oct. 12.

The Associated Press reported that investors were nervous about a new report from the Department of Energy that said prices for home heating bills would be a third to a half higher this year for most homes. The biggest increase will come for those who heat with natural gas.

Neil Gamson, an economist with the Energy Information Administration, told Land Line that the increased demand for home heating oil – which comes from the same distillate pool as diesel – should keep diesel prices from dropping too much through the winter.

However, he said there would be a slight drop as more refineries damaged by hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico begin to come back on line.

“We expect that prices (diesel) should go back under $3 fairly soon, but still stay in the high $2 range,” he said.

Some potential good news for truckers, though, Gamson said, is that the EIA is expecting prices to drop off more after the first of the year.

“We expect diesel prices to drop considerably in the first quarter of next year,” he said. “We expect averages in the $2.50 range.”