The national average price for diesel fuel was about $2.40 per gallon just four weeks ago, but a series of recent increases has pushed the price back up to almost $2.50.

The national average price was $2.491 per gallon for the week ending Monday, Feb. 19, 2007, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That's up 1.5 cents from the previous week and 3.6 cents from one year ago.

In California, the price declined slightly to $2.901 from $2.904.

Prices increased in the other regions reporting to the EIA except in the Rocky Mountain region, where diesel held steady at $2.517 per gallon.

The biggest increase occurred in the Gulf Coast region, which still had the cheapest fuel at $2.418 per gallon despite an increase of 2.4 cents from the previous week.

The Midwest region had an average price of $2.444, up 1.5 cents from $2.429.

In the West Coast region diesel averaged $2.784 per gallon, up seven-tenths of a cent from $2.777.

In the East Coast region, the average price for a gallon was $2.479, up 1.4 cents from $2.465, while the New England region reported an average price of $2.636 - a 1.1-cent increase from $2.625.

The Lower Atlantic region reported a 1.3-cent increase from $2.408 to $2.421, while diesel in the Central Atlantic region averaged $2.581 per gallon - up 1.7 cents from the previous week.