The average price per gallon of diesel fuel fell 0.8 cent from last week to $1.303, after five consecutive weeks of increases, the Department of Energy reported July 29, 2002. Diesel fuel is one of trucking's major fuels and changes in its price is a significant part of the cost of providing trucking services. Last week, the price of crude oil, from which diesel fuel is made, tumbled amid reports of quota-cheating inside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and the possible departure of Nigeria - the cartel's fifth-largest member. Gasoline prices also fell across the country, the DOE report said, to $1.407, shedding 0.3 cent per gallon. The price later in the week rose slightly in the face of falling oil reserves, then dropped again after analysts speculated that OPEC would increase production. Falling oil prices would lead to lower prices for diesel fuel and gasoline. The diesel fuel price drop was felt across all geographic regions, but particularly in the Midwest, where the price fell 1.1 cents per gallon to $1.291, erasing two weeks of gains. The decline took prices off their newly set three-month high of $1.311 established last week. Each week, the DOE's Energy Information Administration surveys 350 diesel filling stations across the country to compile a composite snapshot of diesel prices nationwide.