US gasoline price up again, pump cost 3rd-highest

By Tom Doggett

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The much-awaited drop in U.S. retail
gasoline prices lasted all of seven days, as the national pump
price jumped 3.8 cents over the last week to $2.95 a gallon,
the government said on Monday.

Motor fuel is up 78 cents from a year ago and now is the
third-highest price ever, based on the federal Energy
Information Administration’s weekly survey of service stations.

U.S. motorists had finally got a break at the pump during
the previous week when the average gasoline price fell for the
first time in six weeks, even though it was by only a penny.

The EIA said at the time that gasoline prices were peaking
as the vast majority of the recent jump in wholesale fuel costs
had been passed on to consumers at the pump.

The new rise at the pump mirrors an increase last week in
crude oil prices, which account for about half the cost of
making gasoline.

Gasoline prices also normally increase heading toward the
Memorial Day holiday weekend at the end of May, the traditional
start of the U.S. summer vacation season.

The EIA last week revised up its forecast for this summer’s
average retail gasoline price to $2.71 a gallon, 7 cents higher
than its earlier estimate and 34 cents more than last summer,
suggesting fuel costs will soon start falling again to reach
the lower average pump price.

The savings at the pump could quickly return. The price of
U.S. crude for delivery in June settled down $2.63 to $69.41 a
barrel on Monday at the New York Mercantile Exchange, as
traders feared high energy prices could slow economic growth
and thus cut into petroleum demand.

In the EIA’s latest weekly survey, the West Coast had the
most expensive regional gasoline, with the price up a penny to
$3.25 a gallon. Los Angeles topped the survey of cities, with
gasoline down 2.4 cents at $3.40 a gallon.

The Gulf Coast states had the cheapest gasoline at $2.83 a
gallon, up 1.8 cents. Among major cities, Denver had the best
pump price at $2.81, down 0.1 cent.

Separately, the average diesel fuel price paid by truckers
increased 2.3 cents over the last week to $2.92 a gallon, the
fifth-highest price ever and up 73 cents from a year earlier,
the EIA said.

Truckers on the West Coast paid the most for diesel at
$3.19 a gallon, up 1.2 cents. The Gulf Coast region had the
cheapest diesel at $2.83 a gallon, up 1.5 cents.