Gasoline hits 2nd highest pump price ever: Government

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The average price U.S. consumers paid for gasoline jumped 3.9 cents over the last week to $2.97 a gallon, the second highest level ever, the government said on Monday.

The national pump price for regular unleaded gasoline is up 65 cents from a year ago and not far from the record $3.07 reached last September after Hurricane Katrina disrupted petroleum supplies, according to the federal Energy Information Administration’s weekly survey of 800 service stations.

The much larger Lundberg survey of 7,000 stations showed gasoline increased about 11 cents over the last two weeks to $3 a gallon, when rounded to the nearest penny.

The rise at the pump reflects an increase in U.S. crude oil prices, which accounts for about half the cost of making gasoline.

Reuters