Gas prices fall in U.S., California

After hitting record levels for two weeks in a row, gasoline prices eased for U.S. drivers as the average pump cost fell 2.5 cents over the last week to $3.259 a gallon, the government said Monday. In California, the average edged two-tenths of a penny lower to $3.602 a gallon.

The national price for regular, self-serve gasoline is still up 65 cents from this time last year, based on the weekly survey of service stations by the federal Energy Information Administration, the statistics arm of the Energy Department. California’s average is 45 cents higher than the year-earlier price.

Diesel fuel set another record high, rising 1.5 cents over the last week to $3.989 a gallon, up $1.31 from a year ago. Some truckers are calling for a strike on April 1 to protest diesel pump costs that top $4 a gallon in many parts of the country.

The drop in gasoline costs mirrors the decline in crude oil prices since last week. Cheaper crude also helped slow the increase in diesel costs, which had jumped more than 15 cents a gallon the week before.

U.S. crude futures for May delivery settled down 98 cents at $100.86 a barrel after touching $99.95 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

On March 17, oil set an intraday trading record of $111.80 a barrel.

In the Energy Information Administration’s latest weekly survey, gasoline rose the most in the Rocky Mountain region, where it increased 2 cents to $3.198 a gallon. Gasoline fell the most in the Midwest, down 6 cents to $3.192 a gallon.

Gasoline was the most expensive on the West Coast at $3.517 a gallon, down 0.6 cent. San Francisco had the highest city price at $3.655, down 0.8 cent.

The Gulf Coast states had the cheapest regional price at $3.166 a gallon, down 1.1 cents. Boston had the lowest city price, down 1.1 cents to $3.102.