Diesel hits record, gas ticks higher

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The price of diesel fuel hit a record high and gasoline resumed its march upward, a daily survey from auto club AAA showed Sunday.

The price of diesel, which is used to power most trucks and commercial vehicles, hit $4.817 a gallon. It had dipped to $4.811 on Friday and Saturday after reaching a record $4.814 last week.

The average price of unleaded gasoline increased to $4.104 a gallon from $4.098 on Saturday.

The nationwide average is down from the all-time high of $4.108 a gallon, set July 7.

Prices for regular unleaded gas are 35% higher than where they were last year, and diesel prices have risen by more than 65% over the same period.

State levels. Alaska continues to lead the country in the gas runup with prices at $4.617 a gallon on average. California, the other state with prices above $4.50 a gallon, comes in second at $4.518. Hawaii is just pennies away from the mark at $4.463.

South Carolina has the cheapest average prices for regular unleaded at $3.894 per gallon, while Oklahoma has the cheapest diesel at $4.607.

Meanwhile, a separate survey released on Sunday found that the average price of gasoline jumped more than penny over the past three weeks - the smallest price hike this year.

That survey showed that the average price was a fraction of a cent above $4.11 a gallon, said survey publisher Trilby Lundberg.

That was up 1.5 cents a gallon from the last survey three weeks ago, Lundberg said.

"This is the most stable we have seen prices all year," she said. But it's not likely to stay this way, she added.

The main reason for the slowdown in rising gas prices was that oil refiners and gas retailers did not pass on increases in crude oil prices to consumers. They also did not raise their prices because they had seen a recent decline in demand for gas, Lundberg said.

A government report released Wednesday showed an unexpected climb in national gasoline stockpiles, which analysts said could indicate that drivers just aren't buying as much fuel.

The price of crude oil, which is used to make gasoline and other refined fuels, has been trading at record levels. The increase in prices has put a squeeze on refiners over the past month as products like gasoline have become more expensive to produce.

But refiners and retailers cannot continue to refrain from passing on the higher costs to consumers, Lundberg explained. If the price of crude oil continues to go up, gas prices will have to follow.

The Lundberg survey tallies prices from about 5,000 gas stations nationwide every two weeks. AAA gets its information from Oil Price Information Service, which tracks prices at about 85,000 stations daily.

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