Retail gasoline price at record $3.29/gln

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. retail price for gasoline set a new high of $3.29 a gallon after rising 3.1 cents over the last week, the federal Energy Information Administration said on Monday.

The national price for regular, self-service gasoline is up 58 cents from a year ago as expensive crude oil continued to be passed on to consumers at the pump, the Energy Department's analytical arm said in its weekly survey of service stations.

The American Petroleum Institute, the trade group for big oil companies, said on Monday that high crude prices are mostly behind consumer pain the pump.

API said the price of oil now accounts for about 70 percent of the cost for making gasoline, with federal and state excise taxes making up another large chunk of the price for a gallon of gasoline.

U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday are expected to press the executives from five major oil companies, including ExxonMobil, BP and Shell, at a congressional hearing on soaring gasoline prices and the industry's billions of dollars in record profits.

In the EIA's latest weekly survey, gasoline was the most expensive on the West Coast at $3.52 a gallon, up 0.6 cent. San Francisco had the highest city price at $3.65, down a penny.

The Gulf Coast states had the cheapest regional price at $3.21 a gallon, up 4 cents. Boston had the lowest city price, up 0.7 cent to $3.11.

The EIA also reported gasoline prices were up half a penny at $3.60 in Los Angeles, up 7.8 cents at $3.44 in Chicago, down 4.6 cents at $3.44 in Seattle, up 1.9 cents at $3.39 in Miami, down 0.3 cent at $3.22 in New York City, down 4.2 cents to $3.19 in Cleveland and up 3.7 cents at $3.19 in Houston.

Separately, the price of diesel fuel dropped for the first time in nine weeks, falling 2.5 cents to $3.96 a gallon, but still up $1.17 from a year ago.

The EIA's survey showed the central Atlantic states had the most expensive diesel fuel at $4.16 a gallon, down 2.6 cents. The Gulf Coast region had the cheapest diesel at $3.91, down 2.1 cents.

(Editing by Christian Wiessner)