Retail gasoline, diesel prices set records

A sign on a gas pump alerts customers to one of the consequences of higher gasoline prices at a gas station in Gordonsville, Tennessee March 21, 2008.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The average price U.S. drivers paid for gasoline climbed to a new high of $3.39 a gallon after rising 5.7 cents over the last week, the federal Energy Information Administration said on Monday.

The national average price for regular, self-service gasoline is up 51.3 cents from a year ago because of high crude oil costs, which on Monday traded at almost $112 a barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The price of crude oil accounts for about 70 percent of the cost for making gasoline.

The EIA predicts summer gasoline demand will fall for the first time since 1991, as lofty pump prices and a weak economy discourage driving.

The head of the agency, Guy Caruso, has said he expects the United States will suffer a "small recession" during the first half of this year, due in part to high crude oil and gasoline prices.

In the EIA's latest survey of service stations, gasoline was the most expensive on the West Coast at $3.66 a gallon, up 8.4 cents. San Francisco had the highest city price at $3.82, up 9.5 cents.

The Gulf Coast states had the cheapest regional price at $3.29 a gallon, up 3.2 cents. Boston had the lowest city price, up 5 cents to $3.18.

Separately, the average price for diesel fuel soared 10.4 cents to a record $4.06 a gallon, up $1.18 from a year earlier, the agency said.

Truckers are suffering from the high fuel costs, paying about $1,000 for a fill-up.

Average diesel fuel prices were reported at $4 a gallon or higher in every region of the country, the EIA said.

In the agency's latest price survey, the central Atlantic states had the most expensive diesel fuel at $4.27 a gallon, up 12.4 cents. The Gulf Coast region had the cheapest diesel at $4, up 10.6 cents.

(Reporting by Tom Doggett; Editing by Christian Wiessner)