WASHINGTON, D.C. --- For the sixth week in a row the U.S. average retail price for regular gasoline moved higher, according to a weekly report released Wednesday by the Energy Department.
As a result, the U.S. average price for regular gasoline set yet another all-time high of $3.613 per gallon, the department's Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported. While the average price has gone up 55.9 cents per gallon above the price a year ago, it has also shot up nearly the same amount (exactly 56 cents) since December 31 of last year.
On a regional basis, prices increased throughout the country, with the exception of the Lower Atlantic portion of the East Coast where they went down a mere 0.6 cent. Elsewhere on the East Coast, prices increased 2.5 cents per gallon in New England and 2.3 cents per gallon in the Central Atlantic. The average price for the entire East Coast region was $3.61 per gallon, a 0.9-cent increase.
The average price in the Midwest was $3.579 per gallon, an increase of 1.1 cents. The increase in price for the Gulf Coast was the smallest of any region, going up only two-tenths of a cent to reach $3.507 per gallon. Despite an increase of 1.6 cents in the Rocky Mountain region, the price of $3.494 per gallon was the lowest for any region. The West Coast price went up 1.4 cents to $3.80 per gallon, while the price in California increased 1.1 cents to $3.903 per gallon.
For the first time in four weeks, the U.S. average diesel price did not increase. Although diesel prices slipped from their all-time highs in all regions with the exception of the Rocky Mountains, prices everywhere remained above $4 per gallon.
The U.S. average diesel price dropped 2.8 cents to $4.149 per gallon, $1.357 higher than the price a year ago. East Coast diesel prices dropped the most of any region, down 3.6 cents to $4.194 per gallon. In the Midwest, the price of diesel dropped 3.2 cents to $4.101 per gallon.
The diesel price in the Gulf Coast remained the lowest of any region, falling 2.9 cents to $4.084 per gallon. The Rocky Mountain region tallied the only price increase, moving up 1.5 cents to $4.156 per gallon, $1.161 higher than a year earlier.
On the West Coast, the average diesel price moved down 0.9 cent (the smallest drop of any major region) to $4.303 per gallon. In California, the average price went down just 0.8 cent to $4.382 per gallon.
