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Oil prices dropped over 2% toward its 11-year low Jan. 5 as traders shrugged off growing tension between two of the world's biggest oil producers and focused on a stronger U.S. dollar and swelling U.S. crude inventories.

The U.S. average retail diesel price fell for the eighth consecutive week, down 2.4 cents a gallon to $2.211, the Department of Energy reported Jan.4.

Spot biodiesel prices have jumped at least 10% because of moves in Washington since Nov. 30, when the Obama administration increased consumption targets for the fuel. About three weeks later, Congress reinstated a $1-a-gallon tax credit for blending it.

The U.S. average retail diesel price fell for the seventh consecutive week and to the lowest point this year, down 4.9 cents a gallon to $2.235, the Department of Energy reported Dec. 28.

The U.S. average retail diesel price fell for the sixth consecutive week and to the lowest point this year, down 5.4 cents a gallon to $2.284, the Department of Energy reported Dec. 21.

Just as Americans start to hit the road for the holidays, the average price of gasoline at the pump has dropped below $2 a gallon for the first time in more than six years as global oil supply continues to surge.

The U.S. retail diesel average fell 4.1 cents a gallon to $2.338, the fifth consecutive decline, leaving diesel at its lowest in nearly 6½ years, the Department of Energy reported.