WASHINGTON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - U.S. retail gasoline prices fell for the third straight week, dropping another 3.6 cents to $3.06 a gallon, the government said on Monday, but drivers were still paying more at the pump than they were a year ago.

 

The national price for regular gasoline remained up 76 cents from a year earlier, the Energy Information Administration said in its weekly survey of service stations.

 

Meanwhile, after hitting record highs for four weeks in a row, the average price truckers paid for diesel fuel declined 2.8 cents to $3.42 a gallon. That was still up 80 cents from this time last year.

 

The drop in gasoline and diesel costs reflected the fall in the crude oil price, which has sunk about $10 a barrel in the last week. The cost of crude accounts for about half the cost of making gasoline.

 

In the EIA's latest weekly price survey, gasoline was the most expensive on the West Coast, down 2.9 cents at $3.28 a gallon. Among major cities, San Francisco had the highest gasoline costs at $3.47, down 2.2 cents.

 

The Gulf Coast states had the lowest price by region at $2.94 a gallon, down 3.1 cents. Houston had the cheapest pump price at $2.87 a gallon, down 3 cents.

 

The EIA also reported gasoline prices were down 2.5 cents at $3.19 in Seattle, down 1.2 cents at $3.19 in Miami, down 3.4 cents at $3.09 in Chicago, up 0.5 cent at $3.09 in New York City, down 0.1 cent at $3.02 in Boston, down 4.9 cents at $2.96 in Denver and down 8.2 cents at $2.94 in Cleveland.

The New England states had the most expensive diesel fuel at $3.60, up half a penny. The Gulf Coast states had the most affordable diesel at $3.35, down 1.5 cents. (Reporting by Tom Doggett; Editing by David Gregorio)