Houston (Platts)--8Mar2010/631 pm EST/2331 GMT

The national average price in the US for regular retail gasoline rose 4.9 cents the survey week ending Monday to $2.751/gal, the Energy Information Administration said.

That's 81 cents higher than the corresponding week a year ago, according to EIA data.

The Midwest average rose the most, by 5.5 cents to $2.695/gal. The West Coast retained the highest regional average, $2.984/gal, with a 4.7 cents hike. The Rocky Mountain average jumped 5.4 cents to $2.685/gal, the Gulf Coast average increased 5.1 cents to $2.647/gal, and the East Coast average increased 4.3 cents to $2.740/gal. EIA each Monday publishes average US retail prices for all three grades of gasoline. The data is collected by telephone from a sample of 800 retail gasoline outlets. The reported price includes all taxes and is the pump price paid by a consumer as of 8 am Monday.

EIA each Monday also conducts a survey of retail on-highway diesel prices by telephone and fax from a sample of about 350 truck stops and service stations around the country. The results are compiled into a US average price and average prices for eight regions of the country and California.

The national average for on-highway diesel rose 4.3 cents to $2.904/gal. That's 85.9 cents higher than a year ago.

By region, the largest increase, 5.4 cents, came on the Gulf Coast, where the average was $2.873/gal. The West Coast average rose 4.7 cents to $3.003/gal, the Midwest average increased 4.6 cents to $2.871/gal, the Rocky Mountain average rose 3.9 cents to $2.890/gal, and the East Coast increased 3 cents to $2.932/gal.

--Katharine Fraser, katharine_fraser@platts.com