DoE: Gasoline Price Hits Record $2.37

WASHINGTON – The U.S. average retail gasoline price hit a new record high Monday, rising 7.7 cents over the last week to $2.37 a gallon, the government said.

The national price for regular unleaded gasoline is up 49 cents from a year ago, surpassing the old record of $2.33 set on July 11, according to a survey of service stations conducted by the Energy Information Administration (search).

Rising pump costs reflect record prices for crude oil, which climbed to a record $64 a barrel on Monday at the New York Mercantile Exchange (search). When adjusted for inflation, the highest price for gasoline would be around $3.12 a gallon in March 1981, the EIA said.

Truckers on the West Coast paid the most for diesel at $2.80 a gallon, up 21 cents from last week. In California alone, diesel jumped 29 cents in one week to $2.94.

The Gulf Coast states had the cheapest diesel at $2.32 a gallon, up 4.4 cents.