Tokyo: The average retail price of regular gasoline in Japan as of Monday rose 1.9 yen from a week before to a 15-year high of 176.7 yen per liter, the industry ministry said Wednesday.

The pump price grew for the 11th straight week, due to higher crude oil prices and a reduction in government subsidies provided to oil wholesalers to curb price surges.

The average price rose in all 47 prefectures except Saga, southwestern Japan, which logged a decline.

The highest average was 186.4 yen marked in the central prefecture of Nagano, while the lowest was 171.9 yen in the northeastern prefecture of Iwate.

The Oil Information Center of the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan, expects the national average to rise next week. The center conducts the gasoline price survey on behalf of the ministry.

The government has started scaling down the subsidies it pays to oil wholesalers. The subsidy program is slated to expire at the end of September.

JIJI Press