Gasoline price highest since early August

By Tom Doggett

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The average price U.S. consumers paid for gasoline jumped 6.1 cents over the last week to the highest level since early August, the government said on Monday, reflecting record crude oil prices.

The national price for regular gasoline averaged $2.82 a gallon, up 62 cents from a year ago, the federal Energy Information Administration said in its survey of 900 service stations.

The much larger Lundberg industry survey of 7,000 gas stations nationwide showed self-serve regular unleaded gasoline rose almost a nickel over the last two weeks to $2.80 a gallon.

Consumers have not enjoyed declining gasoline prices that normally occur after the summer driving season, when fuel demand drops off.

Last year, the price of gasoline fell by 52 cents a gallon between the Labor Day holiday in early September and the third week of October, according to the EIA.

This year, gasoline has increased by 3 cents during the same period.

High crude oil prices, which account for about half the cost of making gasoline, are helping to keep pump prices from falling.

Oil climbed more than $10 a barrel this month on winter supply concerns to hit a record $90.07 last week on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The higher crude oil costs are eventually passed on to consumers at the pump.

Oil for delivery in November fell $1.04 to $87.56 a barrel in Monday trading at NYMEX.

In the EIA's latest weekly price survey, gasoline was the most expensive on the West Coast, up 8.6 cents to $3.07 a gallon. Among major cities, San Francisco had the highest gasoline costs at $3.20, up 8.2 cents.

The Gulf Coast states had the lowest price by region at $2.70 a gallon, up 6.1 cents. Houston had the cheapest pump price at $2.59 a gallon, up 4 cents.

The EIA also reported gasoline prices were up 10.1 cents to $3.02 in Seattle, unchanged at $2.90 in Miami, up 1.5 cents to $2.86 in Chicago, up 7 cents to $2.81 in Cleveland, up 5.3 cents to $2.79 in Denver, up 5.2 cents to $2.74 in New York City, and up 4.9 cents to $2.68 in Boston.

Separately, the average price truckers paid for diesel fuel jumped 5.5 cents to $3.09 a gallon, up 57 cents from a year ago and the highest level in two years.

The West Coast had the most expensive diesel at $3.32, up 9.4 cents. The Gulf Coast states had the most affordable diesel at $2.99, up 5.3 cents.