Gasoline price rises first time in 5 weeks: government

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. retail gasoline prices increased for the first time in five weeks, the Energy Department said on Monday, as higher crude oil costs were passed to consumers at the pump.

The national price for regular unleaded gasoline jumped 4 cents over the past week to $2.50 a gallon, but it was still down $1.45 from a year ago, the department's Energy Information Administration said in its weekly survey of service stations.

The high pump price mirrors the recent rise in crude oil prices, which account for more than half the cost of making gasoline.

The price for crude oil settled up 33 cents at $68.38 a barrel in futures trading on Monday at the New York Mercantile Exchange -- well above the $59 a barrel that oil was trading at earlier in the month.

Some lawmakers and consumer advocates blame energy market speculators for the wild swings in oil prices. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Tuesday will hold a hearing on whether speculators should be subject to trading restrictions.

In its weekly price survey, the EIA found the West Coast had the most expensive gasoline at $2.77 a gallon, unchanged from last week. By city, San Francisco had the highest price at $2.86, down almost a penny.

The Gulf Coast states had the lowest regional price at $2.37 a gallon, up 5 cents. Houston had the cheapest city pump price at $2.31, up 5 cents.

The agency also said gasoline prices were down 0.6 cent at $2.67 in Seattle; up 2.7 cents at $2.62 in Chicago; up 3 cents at $2.61 in Miami; down 0.9 cent at $2.55 in New York City; up 1 cent at $2.47 in Boston and up 13 cents at $2.47 in Cleveland.

Separately, the average price for diesel fuel increased for the first time in six weeks, rising 3.2 cents to $2.53 a gallon, down $2.08 from a year ago, the EIA said.

The Central Atlantic states again had the most expensive diesel at $2.64 a gallon, up 1.3 cents. The Gulf Coast region had the cheapest diesel fuel at $2.49, up 5 cents.

(Editing by Walter Bagley)