Diesel prices jumped more than 3 cents from Monday to Tuesday, according to Promiles, which showed an average price of $3.008 Tuesday, up 3.1 cents from the previous day.


This even as crude oil futures were climbing to a five-month high Tuesday, according to published reports. Light, sweet crude oil for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled at $82.82 a barrel, the highest level since May 3, according to published reports.

Tuesday's diesel price jump continued a trend as the average retail price of a gallon of diesel Monday, as reported by the Department of Energy, reached $3, the highest average reported since May.

The crude oil prices were spurred by a drop in the value of the dollar, after Japan cut interest rates to near zero and the dollar not only dropped sharply against the yen, but also fell to its lowest level against the euro since February.

Crude oil futures also gained support from a disruption in tanker traffic in the Houston Ship Channel and a port strike in France that delayed deliveries to refineries, reported Dow Jones Newswires.