By Tom Doggett
WASHINGTON, Jan 21 (Reuters) - The cost for a gallon of motor fuel in the United States reached its highest level in 16 months, as drivers suffered a sixth week of rising gasoline prices, the Energy Department said on Tuesday.
The average price for regular unleaded gasoline jumped half a penny over the last week to $1.459 a gallon -- up 35 cents from a year ago -- based on a survey of more than 800 service stations by the department's Energy Information Administration.
That is the highest since late Sept. 2001, when the Sept. 11 terror attacks caused a panic surge in energy prices.
The national price for cleaner-burning reformulated gasoline, which is sold at about one-third of the gas stations in more polluted metropolitan areas, increased 1.8 cents in the last week to $1.534 a gallon, EIA said.
Gasoline prices are rising in response to traders' fear of a U.S. war with Iraq and the disruption in oil exports from Venezuela -- a major oil producer -- caused by a workers' strike now in its eighth week.
The price of crude accounts for about 40 percent of the cost of a gallon of gasoline. In Tuesday trading in New York, oil soared above $35 a barrel, the highest level in 26 months.
Venezuela is the fourth-biggest foreign oil supplier to the U.S. market and the lost oil exports have depleted American crude inventories to their lowest level since the mid-1970s.
The West Coast had the most expensive regular unleaded gasoline over the last week, with the average weekly price in the region up 3 cents to $1.548 a gallon, EIA said.
The Gulf Coast states had the cheapest fuel, as the average price was up 0.8 cents to $1.407 a gallon.
Among cities, San Francisco maintained its top spot in fuel costs, with the price up 4.3 cents to $1.762 a gallon. Houston had the best deal at the pump, with the price up a penny to $1.389 a gallon.
The report also showed gasoline prices were up 4.4 cents in Los Angeles at $1.577, up half a penny in New York City at $1.554, up 1.7 cents in Chicago at $1.521 and down 0.9 cents in Denver at $1.44.
The biggest year-on-year change in city pump prices was in San Francisco, where gasoline costs were up 49 cents a gallon from a year earlier.
Separately, the nationwide price for diesel fuel rose 0.2 cents to $1.48 a gallon, up 34 cents from last year.
Truckers in New England paid the most for diesel fuel at $1.594 a gallon, up 0.1 cents from the prior week. The Rocky Mountain states had the cheapest diesel at $1.445 a gallon, unchanged from the previous week.