Gas Prices Reach New Highs in U.S., State

California’s average gasoline price jumped to a record $2.464 for a gallon of self-serve regular, while the U.S. average reached a fresh high for the third consecutive week at $2.217 a gallon, the Energy Department said Monday.

Drivers in California paid an average of 8.8 cents more for gasoline than they did a week earlier, breaking the state’s record of $2.402 set Oct. 18, according to statistics compiled by the Energy Information Administration, an arm of the Energy Department. Californians are paying 33.8 cents more per gallon than they did one year ago.

Nationwide, the average gas price rose 6.4 cents in the week ended Monday, according to an EIA survey of more than 800 service stations. U.S. average retail gas prices are up 43.7 cents from a year ago.

Analysts blame rising oil and gasoline prices on surging U.S. and international demand, along with fears that the oil supply won’t keep up with demand.

Meanwhile, crude oil for May delivery climbed into record territory during trading Monday to an intraday high of $58.28 a barrel -- the highest intraday price since oil futures began trading in 1983. Oil closed down 26 cents to $57.01 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Friday, oil hit a record $57.27 a barrel in New York futures trading.

Because the price of crude oil accounts for about half the cost of retail gasoline, motorists can expect gasoline prices to continue rising as the busy summer traveling season approaches.

Gasoline in California’s major cities continues to be among the most expensive in the nation. Los Angeles had the second-highest average gas price among the 10 cities tracked by the EIA, hitting $2.475 a gallon, up from $2.179 last year. San Francisco topped the list at 2 cents higher than Los Angeles, while Houston was the lowest at $2.082.

In Los Angeles County, regular-grade gas cost from $2.33 to $2.65 a gallon, according to GasBuddy.com, which tracks an assortment of service stations based on reports from an army of self-appointed price spotters.

California’s average gas price, as measured by the separate AAA survey, reached $2.465 a gallon Saturday, breaking the record set the day before of $2.453 a gallon. The U.S. average is a record $2.17 a gallon, according to the AAA.

Adjusted for inflation, the highest price at the pump was in 1981, when gas commanded $3 a gallon in today’s dollars.

Diesel prices also continued to climb. Californian truck drivers saw prices rise 6.9 cents last week to $2.581 a gallon, up 56.7 cents from last year. U.S. retail diesel prices increased by 5.4 cents to $2.303 a gallon, up 65.5 cents from the previous year.