Mon Nov 30, 2009 5:36pm EST
By Timothy Gardner
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. gasoline prices fell slightly in the latest week but remained pennies from the highest level of the year on high oil prices, the Energy Department said.
The national price for regular unleaded gasoline declined about a penny over the week to $2.63 a gallon. That was down from the highest price of the year of $2.69 a gallon hit on November 2.
But it was up about 82 cents from a year ago on higher prices for feedstock crude, the department's Energy Information Administration said in its weekly survey of service stations.
Oil is up more than 70 percent this year as investors look to signs of a recovering world economy and a potential rebound in global fuel demand. The price of oil accounts for more than half of what consumers pay at the pump for a gallon of gasoline.
Prices for fuels made from crude could rise further. Oil rose more than $1 a barrel on Monday to above $77 a barrel on fresh tensions with Iran and a weak dollar.
In its weekly price survey, the EIA found the West Coast had the most expensive gasoline at $2.92 a gallon, up about 4 cents. By city, Los Angeles had the highest price at $3.03, up 2.5 cents.
The Gulf Coast states had the lowest regional price at $2.56 a gallon, up 4.5 cents. Houston had the cheapest city pump price at $2.50, up 7.2 cents.
The agency also said gasoline prices were up 3.4 cents at $2.85 in Seattle; up 6.7 cents at $2.83 in Miami; up 2.9 cents at $2.75 in Chicago; up 7 cents at $2.75 in New York; up 4.6 cents at $2.66 in Boston.
Separately, the average price for diesel fuel fell 1.2 cents to $2.78 a gallon, 16 cents more than a year ago and the lowest price in six weeks, the EIA said.
The central Atlantic region had the most expensive diesel at $2.90 a gallon, down 0.7 cent. The Gulf Coast region had the cheapest diesel fuel at $2.72, down 1.4 cents.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; editing by Jim Marshall)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE5AT5NP20091130
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