Fort Lauderdale, FL – The cost of the nation’s fuel supply spiked during the past week, driven by intense price hikes across three key regions, according to this week’s fuel price survey from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded shot up by nearly four cents, settling at just under $2.60.

Prices shot significantly higher across the Lower Atlantic, the Midwest and the West Coast, according to the E.I.A. The survey report shows each region endured average price increases between five and six cents per gallon. Most other regions had price hikes of between two and four cents per gallon. Only the Central Atlantic states were spared a price increase, according to the survey report.

The news was much better for truckers, although prices were mostly flat in most regions. In fact, the U.S. average cost for diesel remained flat on the week, declining just about four-tenths of a penny per gallon. That was enough to shift the national average from $2.98 to $2.97, but the move is more academic than practical for most drivers. Still, haulers operating across the Central Atlantic enjoyed a fair dip in prices this week, according to the E.I.A.

Fuel prices for all regions are shown below, as gathered from www.eia.gov.

E.I.A. Gas Price Survey

	03/05/18	03/12/18	03/19/18		week ago	year ago
U.S.	2.560	2.559	2.598		0.039	0.277
East Coast (PADD1)	2.534	2.509	2.536		0.027	0.270
New England (PADD1A)	2.565	2.554	2.556		0.002	0.295
Central Atlantic (PADD1B)	2.647	2.630	2.628		-0.002	0.248
Lower Atlantic (PADD1C)	2.440	2.404	2.462		0.058	0.279
Midwest (PADD2)	2.428	2.439	2.495		0.056	0.274
Gulf Coast (PADD3)	2.278	2.274	2.304		0.030	0.232
Rocky Mountain (PADD4)	2.437	2.423	2.443		0.020	0.139
West Coast (PADD5)	3.141	3.170	3.215		0.045	0.366
West Coast less California	2.770	2.787	2.842		0.055	0.256

E.I.A. Diesel Price Survey

	03/05/18	03/12/18	03/19/18		week ago	year ago
U.S.	2.992	2.976	2.972		-0.004	0.433
East Coast (PADD1)	3.046	3.024	3.009		-0.015	0.409
New England (PADD1A)	3.126	3.107	3.101		-0.006	0.479
Central Atlantic (PADD1B)	3.240	3.221	3.200		-0.021	0.462
Lower Atlantic (PADD1C)	2.894	2.871	2.858		-0.013	0.360
Midwest (PADD2)	2.920	2.899	2.898		-0.001	0.434
Gulf Coast (PADD3)	2.793	2.782	2.786		0.004	0.406
Rocky Mountain (PADD4)	2.910	2.903	2.925		0.022	0.335
West Coast (PADD5)	3.392	3.386	3.384		-0.002	0.558
West Coast less California	3.064	3.052	3.060		0.008	0.358
California	3.652	3.652	3.641		-0.011	0.713

*PADD stands for Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts. Charts from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/gasdiesel/