Cheap Gas Prices

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. prices of retail gasoline rose nearly a penny over the past few weeks, reaching its highest level in seven weeks, the Energy Department said on Monday.

The national price for regular unleaded gasoline rose 9 cents from the previous week to $ 2.65 per gallon, $ 1.16 for a one year earlier, the Energy Information Administration said in its weekly survey of service stations .

Prices at the pump have risen over the past three weeks as higher oil prices have increased costs for refiners to make gasoline.

Crude oil 33 cents to $ 70.60 a barrel in futures trade on Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The average price of gasoline increased in all regions of the country.

Gasoline was most expensive on the West Coast at $ 2.95 per gallon, up 12.5 cents the previous week. San Francisco had the highest big city price of gasoline at $ 3.06, up 12 cents.

The coast of the Gulf of Mexico had the lowest regional price of $ 2.52, up 9.1 cents. Houston had the cheapest price at $ 2.47, up 9.3 cents.

The EIA also reported gasoline prices jumped 7.6 cents to $ 2.60 in Boston, up 6.5 cents to $ 2.74 in Chicago, up 10.8 cents to $ 2.62 in Cleveland, to 7.8 cents to $ 2.51 in Denver, up 12.5 cents to $ 3.05 in Los Angeles, up 6.8 cents to $ 2.71 in Miami, up 7.2 cents to $ 2.67 in New York and 11.8 cents to $ 2.83 in Seattle.

Moreover, the average price for diesel rose 7.5 cents to $ 2.63 per gallon at $ 1.73 a year earlier.

The Central Atlantic region had the most expensive diesel at $ 2.76 per gallon, up 8.4 cents from a week ago. The Rocky Mountain region had the cheapest diesel at $ 2.57, up 3.6 cents.