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WASHINGTON – U.S. drivers found more pain at the pump Monday, as the retail price for gasoline hit a record high of $2.109 a gallon, the government said.
The national pump price for regular unleaded gasoline rose 5.3 cents over the last week and is up 37 cents from a year ago, according to a weekly survey of service stations by the Energy Information Administration (search).
The previous record price was $2.064 a gallon set last May. The Energy Department’s (search) analytical arm says the pump price will climb above $2.15 a gallon later this spring. When adjusted for inflation, the most expensive gasoline was $3.08 a gallon in March 1981, according to the agency.
President Bush said on Monday he was concerned that consumers are “paying more at the pump,” but offered no short-solutions to bring down gasoline costs.
Truckers also found no relief, with the price for diesel fuel increasing 5 cents to a record $2.24 a gallon, up 60 cents from a year ago, the EIA said.
Truckers on the West Coast paid the most for diesel fuel at $2.47 a gallon, up 2.9 cents from last week. The Gulf Coast states (search) had the cheapest diesel at $2.18 a gallon, up a nickel.
Diesel and gasoline prices are up because of rising crude oil costs, which reached almost $58 a barrel last week and account for about half what consumers pay at the pump.