WASHINGTON - The average price U.S. consumers pay for gasoline declined for the first time in six weeks, but still remains near the record high, the Energy Department said.
The national pump price for regular unleaded gasoline fell a just 0.3 cent over the last week to $2.032 a gallon, but was up 49 cents from a year ago, according to a survey of service stations by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The record high is $2.064 a gallon, set May 24.
The Energy Department's analytical arm also said the average price truckers pay for diesel fuel climbed 3.2 cents to a record $2.212 a gallon, up 72 cents from a year ago and the fifth week in a row that diesel fuel set a new high.
High motor fuel prices reflect higher crude oil prices, which account for about half the cost of making gasoline and diesel.
The price for U.S. crude oil hit a record $55.67 a barrel in overnight trading at the New York Mercantile Exchange, but settled lower in daytime trading to $54.54 on Monday.
With the U.S. presidential election just one week away, Americans will feel the pinch of high gasoline costs as they drive to the polls.
The campaign of Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry hopes to win over voters who are dissatisfied with President Bush's performance on improving the economy and tackling skyrocketing energy prices.
Bush has promoted his energy policy of increasing domestic oil and natural gas supplies, and relaxing environmental regulations to make it easier to expand U.S. refining capacity to produce more gasoline.
The EIA's weekly survey showed the retail price for cleaner-burning reformulated gasoline, sold in polluted metropolitan areas, declined 0.2 cent to $2.14 a gallon.
The West Coast had the most expensive regular unleaded gasoline, with the price down 0.4 cent to $2.291 a gallon. Los Angeles topped the agency's city survey of gasoline costs, with the price falling 0.9 cent to $2.432 a gallon.
The U.S. Gulf Coast had the cheapest fuel, with the price up 0.3 cent to $1.916 per gallon. Houston had the best deal at the pump at $1.883 a gallon, down a penny.
The weekly report also showed gasoline prices were down 0.6 cent to $2.074 in Miami, down 0.2 cent to $2.068 in Seattle, down 2.4 cents to $2.059 in Chicago, up 0.6 cent to $2.058 in New York City and down 5.6 cents to $1.956 in Cleveland.
Separately, truckers on the West Coast paid the most for diesel fuel at $2.38 a gallon, up 4.3 cents from the prior week. The Gulf Coast states had the cheapest diesel at $2.144 a gallon, up 2.9 cents.
Story by Tom Doggett
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
