By Tom Doggett
WASHINGTON, July 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. pump price for gasoline declined for the first time in a month, dropping 0.8 cent over the last week to $1.516 a gallon, though this was 11 cents higher than a year ago, the government said on Monday.
The latest pump price is 21 cents a gallon lower than its record high of $1.73 in mid-March at the beginning of the U.S.-led attack on Iraq, based on a survey of 800 service stations by the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration.
However, the pump price had risen through most of July because of higher crude oil costs that have hovered around $30 a barrel. The price of crude accounts for about 40 percent of the cost for a gallon of gasoline.
EIA has forecast gasoline costs will average $1.50 a gallon for the rest of the summer driving season through September.
The price for cleaner-burning reformulated gasoline, sold at about one-third of service stations in polluted metropolitan areas, fell a penny in the latest week to $1.574.
The U.S. West Coast had the most expensive regular unleaded gasoline, with the average in the region at $1.671 a gallon, down 1.7 cents, EIA said.
The Gulf Coast states had the cheapest gasoline with an average price of $1.441 a gallon, down 0.6 cent from the prior week.
In urban areas, San Francisco maintained its top spot in fuel costs, with the average price down 3.8 cents to $1.801 a gallon. Houston had the cheapest gasoline in major U.S. cities, with the price down 0.3 cent to $1.412 a gallon, EIA said.
The report also showed gasoline prices were down 2.1 cents in Los Angeles at $1.662, unchanged in Miami at $1.567, down 7 cents in Chicago at $1.545, up 8 cents in Denver at $1.536 and up 0.1 cent in New York City at $1.529.
Separately, the average price for diesel fuel declined 0.1 cent in the latest week to $1.438 a gallon, but was still 14 cents above year-ago levels.
Truckers on the West Coast paid the most for diesel fuel at $1.602 a gallon, up 1.2 cents from the prior week. The Gulf Coast states had the cheapest diesel at $1.387, unchanged from the previous week.