Pump Prices Edge Down After Rising for Weeks

Retail gasoline prices dribbled slightly lower after weeks of increases, a federal report showed Monday.

California motorists paid an average of $2.394 for a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline over the last week, down nearly a penny, according to a weekly survey of gasoline stations by the Energy Information Administration.

The national average pump price for self-serve regular gas fell just 0.3 cent to $2.032 a gallon in the period, the agency said.

A year ago, the California average was 65.7 cents lower and the U.S. average was 49 cents lower.

The average price truckers nationwide paid for diesel fuel climbed 3.2 cents to a record $2.212 a gallon, the fifth week in a row that diesel fuel set a new high, the government said. In California, the average diesel price also set a record at $2.437 a gallon, up 4.3 cents.

Pump prices for gasoline and diesel have surged with crude oil since Hurricane Ivan tore through the Gulf of Mexico in mid-September. The storm sank oil production platforms, delayed tanker shipments and shut refineries. Crude oil accounts for about half the cost of making gasoline and diesel.

In New York trading, the near-term crude oil futures contract rose as high as $55.67 a barrel on Monday -- a record -- but ended at $54.54, down 63 cents from Friday.

The price fell after Norway’s government intervened to end a labor conflict that threatened output from the world’s third-largest exporter.

Gasoline futures fell 4.01 cents to $1.398 a gallon in New York trading.

The record price for gasoline in California is $2.402 a gallon, set Oct. 18. The U.S. record is $2.064 a gallon, set May 24.

After adjusting for inflation, the record gasoline price for California and the country was about $3 a gallon in current dollars. That record was established in 1981.

In the latest government survey, Los Angeles was the most expensive city, with an average price of $2.432 a gallon, down 0.9 cent. Houston had the best deal at the pump at $1.883 a gallon, down a penny.

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Reuters and Bloomberg News were used in compiling this report.