U.S. gasoline price hits record $2.33/gallon -Govt

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The average price U.S. drivers pay
for gasoline climbed 10.2 cents over the last week to a new
record of $2.33 a gallon, the government said on Monday.

The old record pump price of $2.28 a gallon was set in
mid-April, according to the U.S. Energy Information
Administration. The new record price is up 41 cents from a year
ago, based on the EIA’s weekly survey of service stations.

When adjusted for inflation, the record pump price would be
around $3.12 a gallon from March 1981.

In the weekly EIA survey, the West Coast had the most
expensive regular unleaded gasoline, with the price up 6.8
cents at $2.48 a gallon. San Francisco was at the top of the
agency’s survey of cities, with the price of gasoline up 5.6
cents at $2.58.

The Gulf Coast states, where many refineries are located,
had the cheapest fuel, with the price up 11.8 cents at $2.24
per gallon. Among major cities, Houston had the lowest pump
price, with fuel up 9.4 cents at $2.19.

Separately, the average price for diesel fuel increased 6
cents to a record $2.41 a gallon, up 67 cents from a year
earlier, the EIA said.

Truckers in the New England states paid the most for diesel
at $2.53 a gallon, up 4.8 cents from last week. The Gulf Coast
states had the cheapest diesel at $2.36 a gallon, up 6.5 cents.