Gasoline Prices Rise in State

California motorists on average paid 2.7 cents more for a gallon of regular self-serve gasoline in the latest week, the first increase in three months, a government report showed Monday.

The statewide average spurted to $1.959 a gallon from $1.932 the previous week as higher crude oil prices were passed on to consumers, according to a survey by the Energy Department. Refinery maintenance and the annual switch to summer-grade gasoline, which is more difficult to produce, also contributed to higher prices, analysts said.

Before the latest increase, California’s average pump price had fallen 47 cents from a record high of $2.402 a gallon in the week ended Oct. 18. But Californians are still paying 23.3 cents more than they were a year ago.

Nationwide, the average retail price for regular gasoline rose 3.4 cents to $1.853 a gallon, the third consecutive weekly increase, the department’s Energy Information Administration said. The nationwide average, which is based on a weekly survey of about 800 filling stations, is 23.1 cents higher than a year ago.

U.S. crude oil prices have risen this month on worries that freezing winter weather would deplete stocks. A fierce weekend snowstorm and low temperatures in the Northeast helped push crude oil for March delivery up 28 cents, or 0.6%, to $48.81 a barrel Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest close since Nov. 30.

Crude accounts for about half of the cost of gasoline, according to the Energy Information Administration, the Energy Department’s analytical arm.

The government’s weekly retail gasoline report showed the West Coast was the most expensive region, with gas selling for $1.918 a gallon, up 2.7 cents. The Gulf Coast region had the cheapest gasoline, rising 4.3 cents to $1.789 a gallon, the agency said.

Among the 10 major urban areas highlighted by the agency, Los Angeles’ pump prices were the most expensive at $1.997 a gallon, up 1.6 cents. Houston had the cheapest gas at $1.768 a gallon, up 7.8 cents.

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Bloomberg News and Reuters were used in compiling this report.