U.S. retail gasoline prices increased for the first time in 10 weeks, while truckers saw their diesel fuel costs drop for a second week, the Energy Department said on Monday.
The national pump price for regular unleaded gasoline rose 1.5 cents over the last week to $1.793 a gallon, up 23 cents from a year ago, according to a survey of service stations by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The EIA, the Energy Department’s analytical arm, also said the average price for diesel fuel fell 2.3 cents to $1.934 a gallon, the lowest in almost four months, but up 38 cents from a year ago.
The price of crude oil, which is up about $3 a barrel over the last week, affects gasoline and diesel fuel costs. In futures trading at the New York Mercantile Exchange oil settled down 10 cents to $45.33 a barrel on Monday, after soaring almost $2 earlier in the day.
The EIA’s weekly survey showed the retail price for cleaner-burning reformulated gasoline, sold in polluted metropolitan areas, fell a penny to $1.838 a gallon.
The West Coast had the most expensive regular unleaded gasoline, with the price down 4.1 cents to $1.889 a gallon. Los Angeles was at the top of the agency’s survey of cities, with the price of gasoline down 2.9 cents to $1.963 a gallon.
Gulf Coast states had the cheapest fuel, with the price up 2.8 cents to $1.699 per gallon. Among major U.S. cities, Houston had the lowest pump price, with fuel up 1.2 cents to $1.643 a gallon.
The weekly report also showed gasoline prices were down 1.7 cents to $1.91 in Miami, down 1.6 cents to $1.864 in New York City, up 6.5 cents to $1.844 in Chicago, up 6.8 cents to $1.824 in Cleveland and down 3.6 cents to $1.786 in Seattle.
Truckers in the New England states paid the most for diesel fuel, at $2.163 a gallon, down 1.7 cents from the prior week. The Gulf Coast states had the cheapest diesel at $1.876 a gallon, down 1.1 cents.
