Japan gasoline price hits record above 180 yen/litre

TOKYO, July 9 (Reuters) - Japan's retail regular gasoline
prices jumped to a record high above 180 yen per litre due to
soaring crude oil prices, a research body said on Wednesday.

The average pump price of regular gasoline in Japan was 181.5
yen ($1.69) per litre ($6.40 a U.S. gallon) on Monday, compared
with the previous record of 172.4 yen hit on June 9, data from
the Oil Information Center showed.

The jump came after Japanese refiners raised wholesale oil
prices by around 5 percent from July 1 to pass on the higher cost
of crude imports.

Last week, U.S. crude oil futures CLc1 hit a record above
$145 a barrel.

Following is a table of average retail prices in Japan for
regular gasoline, high-octane gasoline and diesel oil (yen per
litre, with kerosene in yen per 18 litres):

DATE High-octane Regular Diesel Kerosene

July 7 192.4 181.5 163.1 2,294

June 30 182.9 172.0 153.0 2,104

June 23 183.0 172.0 153.0 2,100

June 16 183.2 172.3 153.1 2,095

June 9 183.4 172.4 153.1 2,088

June 2 182.8 171.9 152.3 2,060

May 26 171.1 160.3 139.8 1,833

May 19 171.0 160.1 139.6 1,822

May 12 170.8 160.1 139.4 1,813

May 7 170.3 159.6 139.0 1,806

May 5 NA 159.2 138.9 NA

May 1 NA 153.4 136.7 NA

Note: Price per gallon calculated using U.S. gallons (1 U.S.
gallon=3.785 litres).
($1=107.43 Yen)
(Reporting by James Topham)