NEW YORK — The average U.S. retail price for regular-grade gasoline jumped 10.2 cents in the past week to a record $2.328 a gallon, the Energy Department said.

The nationwide average surpassed the previous high of $2.28 a gallon reached on April 11. U.S. pump prices are up 21 percent from $1.917 a gallon a year ago.

Gasoline prices also set a record in Hawai'i, with the average price for a gallon of regular reaching $2.59 yesterday — the highest in the nation.

"Crude oil wants to hang up above $55 and the wholesale market has moved up dramatically," said William Shireman, executive vice president of Gas City Ltd., a 46-station chain based in Frankfort, Ill. His company is selling regular gasoline for $2.45 a gallon. "I think it's going to stay that way until the hurricane season is over."

Crude oil for August delivery fell 71 cents, or 1.2 percent, to close at $58.92 a barrel today on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures touched $62.10 a barrel on July 7, the highest since trading began in 1983, on concern Hurricane Dennis would disrupt production in the Gulf of Mexico.

Oil prices, which account for about half the cost of retail gasoline, are up 47 percent from a year ago.

Four named storms, Dennis, Cindy, Bret and Arlene, have formed so far in the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1. A fifth storm is developing in the Atlantic, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Retail gasoline prices in the week ended today rose in every region of the country, according to the government survey of 1,200 filling stations. Prices gained the most in the Midwest, where they rose 12.2 cents to $2.316 a gallon.

"The second half of the year is off to an incredible start," says Tom Kloza, senior analyst at the Oil Price Information Service. OPIS collects the daily transaction data at more than 60,000 U.S. gas stations that AAA uses for its price updates.

Kloza forecasts a peak U.S. average of $2.38 for regular-grade gas by late summer.

"We're in for a wild ride through the end of 2005 on the entire energy front," says Geoff Sundstrom, AAA spokesman. "We'll continue to see records the next several days," he predicted, because AAA's rolling average will begin to include more of the price increases made over the weekend in anticipation of damage to oil rigs and gas stations by Hurricane Dennis.

Retail diesel fuel rose 6 cents to a record $2.408 a gallon. It was the third consecutive week of record diesel prices. Diesel is up 38 percent from a year ago.

The government report was started in 1990.