Gasoline Jumps a Dime a Gallon in California

California motorists are paying 10.4 cents more on average for gasoline than they were a week ago, the Energy Information Administration said Monday.

Most regions around the nation also reported higher gasoline prices, but nowhere was the increase as steep as in California, according to the weekly survey of service stations conducted by the EIA, the statistical arm of the U.S. Energy Department.

Analysts had expected gasoline prices to jump because of the high price of oil, hovering around $50 a gallon, and a supply crimp caused by Hurricane Ivan.

California’s gas prices were further squeezed by refinery maintenance, Alaskan oil-field maintenance that tightened shipments of crude to California refineries and a recent power outage at Shell Oil Co.’s Wilmington refinery, oil industry sources said.

California’s average price for a gallon of self-serve regular rose to $2.198 from $2.094 on Sept. 27, the EIA said. The average is 34.4 cents higher than a year ago but below the record of $2.327 reached May 31.

The U.S. average for self-serve regular was $1.938 a gallon, up 2.1 cents.

The price was the highest level since mid-June and up 36.5 cents from a year ago.

Diesel fuel hit a record U.S. high for the second week in a row, jumping 4.1 cents to $2.053 a gallon. The average has risen 14 cents in the last two weeks and 61 cents in the last year.

Truckers in California paid the most for diesel fuel at $2.29 a gallon, up 5.4 cents from the prior week. That average price fell short of the state’s record price for diesel of $2.356 a gallon set May 10.

Oil futures retreated below the $50-a-barrel level Monday, with light crude for November delivery closing 21 cents lower at $49.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.