March 29, 2005 2:05 PM, EST

Diesel, Gasoline Hit Record Highs for Second Straight Week

Diesel Climbs a Half-Cent to $2.249; Gasoline Jumps to $2.153

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he national average retail price of diesel fuel rose 0.5 cent to $2.249, eclipsing last week's record high price, the Department of Energy said Monday.

Gasoline, meanwhile, also hit a second straight record high, leaping 4.4 cents to $2.153, DOE reported, 39.5 cents higher than a year ago.

Gasoline's rise followed a 5.3-cent jump a week earlier, when it reached $2.109, breaking a record set May 24 by 4.5 cents.

Before last week's 5-cent increase to $2.244, diesel's previous record had been $2.212, set Oct. 25.

DOE reported that diesel rose in every region in the country, led by a 3-cent spike in California to $2.512 a gallon, the nation’s highest average price.

The Rocky Mountain region saw a 1.3-cent increase to $2.326, while the West Coast average price climbed 1.2 cents, to $2.483 a gallon.

DOE figures showed that diesel was 60.7 cents higher than a year earlier, meaning truckers were paying an extra $121.40 for a 200-gallon purchase at retail pumps than the same time last year.

Meanwhile, light sweet crude oil futures fell Monday, dropping 84 cents to close at $54 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg reported.

Analysts cited lower demand and higher inventories. Crude oil futures had hit a record high of $57.60 a barrel on March 17.

Each week, DOE surveys 350 diesel-filling stations to compile a national snapshot price.