Pump Prices Up in State, Down in U.S.

The average price for self-serve regular gasoline in California climbed 3.1 cents a gallon, the fifth weekly increase in a row, as the U.S. average fell by 1.5 cents a gallon, the Energy Department reported Monday.

The California average hit $2.544 a gallon, up 49.1 cents from a year earlier. Gasoline prices have been rising as many refineries undergo production-squeezing maintenance work.

The U.S. average of $2.342 was 43.3 cents higher than at the same time last year, according to the department’s weekly survey of 800 filling stations.

Only the West Coast and Rocky Mountain regions saw their average price edge up. Regular gasoline rose 2.2 cents to $2.478 a gallon on the West Coast and half a cent to $2.243 a gallon in the Rocky Mountain states.

Prices fell the most in the Midwest, where a 3.4-cent drop took the average price to $2.280 a gallon. Prices fell 1.8 cents to $2.376 a gallon on the East Coast and 1.2 cents to $2.264 a gallon on the Gulf Coast.

Oil prices declined Monday as rising U.S. gasoline inventories helped counter concerns that tensions over Iran’s nuclear program would threaten future supplies. U.S. light sweet crude for March delivery fell 26 cents, closing at $65.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Markets have been on edge over a potential showdown, although Iran, the second-biggest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, has said it will not use oil as a political weapon. Iran has ended spot checks of its nuclear sites and said it was resuming uranium enrichment.

Concerns about possible production stoppages in Nigeria and Venezuela have added to the uncertainty.

*

Reuters was used in compiling this report.