Gasoline prices hit new highs in state, U.S.

After easing slightly, fuel prices headed higher again during the last week, setting record highs nationwide and in California, the Energy Department said Monday, as expensive oil trickled down to the pump.

The U.S. average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline rose 3.1 cents to an all-time high of $3.290, according to the Energy Department’s weekly survey of more than 800 service stations. The week before, the average fell 2.5 cents. The latest nationwide average is about 58 cents higher than a year earlier.

Gasoline was most expensive in California, where drivers paid a record $3.608 a gallon on average, up about half a penny after edging down two-tenths of a cent the week before. The state average is up 38 cents from this time last year.

Gasoline rose the most in the Midwest, jumping 5.7 cents to $3.249 a gallon.

The price of diesel fuel dropped for the first time in nine weeks, falling 2.5 cents to $3.964 a gallon.

In California, diesel sold for an average $4.112 a gallon, down nearly a penny. Both the U.S. and California averages were up about $1.17 from a year earlier.

The American Petroleum Institute, a trade group for big oil companies, said Monday that high crude prices were the main reason for consumer pain at the pump.

The group said the price of oil now accounted for about 70% of the cost for making gasoline, with federal and state excise taxes making up another large chunk of the price for a gallon of gasoline.

U.S. lawmakers today are expected to press the executives from five major oil companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp., BP and Royal Dutch Shell, at a congressional hearing on soaring gasoline prices and the industry’s billions of dollars in record profits.

Consumer Watchdog, formerly the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, called on Congress to increase oversight of energy traders and to withdraw $1.8 billion a year “in unjustified taxpayer subsidies to oil companies.”

“This unprecedented rise so early in the year signals more energy inflation and deeper consumer pain later in the spring,” the Santa Monica-based group said.

In New York futures trading, crude oil for May delivery fell $4.04, or 3.8%, to close at $101.58 a barrel. Oil has risen 54% in the last year.