The nationwide average retail price of regular gasoline in Japan hit 144.10 yen (about 1.24 U.S. dollars) per liter as of Monday, breaking the newly-set record of 143.90 yen per liter a week earlier.

The figure represented the all-time high since Japan's Oil Information Center began compiling the data in 1987. The historic pitch was 142 yen per liter during the Persian Gulf crisis in 1990.

The center on Wednesday attributed the rise to oil distributors ' raising their September shipment prices of petroleum products to cover higher crude oil cost.

Since summer demand has already peaked, the upward momentum of retail gasoline prices is expected to be limit, Kyodo News quoted market observers as saying.

The average retail price in Japan brushed historic record and reached the level of 143.7 yen per liter on Aug. 7 after undergoing an increase of six consecutive weeks.

Source: Xinhua