U.S. gasoline price continues upward trend

WASHINGTON, March 4 (Xinhua) -- The price of regular gasoline rose across the United States last week, according to a report released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Monday.

For the week ending March 4, the U.S. average regular gasoline retail price maintained its upward trend, rising over 3 cents from last week to 2.42 U.S. dollars per gallon, up by nearly 20 cents per gallon from the early 2019, according to EIA data.

Market analysts said that the price hike was mainly due to deteriorating situation in Venezuela, routine oil refinery maintenance and a higher crude oil price.

For West Coast area which includes the states of California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Alaska and Hawaii, gasoline price increased over 1 cent to 2.95 dollars per gallon, according to the EIA.

For the Rocky Mountain area which includes the states of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and Idaho, gasoline price edged up nearly 2 cents to 2.21 dollars per gallon.

For the Midwest area, which stands for the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee, gasoline price remained almost unchanged, edging up more than 2 cents to 2.33 dollars per gallon.

For the Gulf Coast area which includes the states of Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and New Mexico, the gasoline price rose nearly 7 cents to 2.18 dollars per gallon.

For the East Coast area, which includes all other states close to the Atlantic Ocean, the price increased nearly 4 cents to 2.39 dollars per gallon.