Per-Gallon Gasoline Prices Rise 7 Cents to Near-Record Levels

Gasoline prices rose 7 cents a gallon over the last two weeks, pushing pump prices to near-record levels, but the upward pressure on prices may be easing, an industry analyst said Sunday.

The average weighted price for gas nationwide, including all grades and taxes, was about $1.70 a gallon Friday, according to the Lundberg Survey of 8,000 stations nationwide. That price is within 7 cents of $1.77, the all-time high recorded by the survey on May 18, 2001.

Gasoline cost about $1.63 a gallon on Feb. 7, the date of the last Lundberg Survey, an increase of 11 cents over the previous two-week survey.

“The pace of gas prices has already slowed,” Trilby Lundberg said. “The other indicators show a possible decrease in prices.”

Lundberg said cold weather and maintenance work at several U.S. refineries -- two factors that had pushed gas prices higher -- should run their course soon.

“An invasion of Baghdad will likely reduce crude oil prices fairly quickly,” Lundberg added, “bringing further relief at the pump.”

Oil prices have climbed on fears that a U.S. war with Iraq may disrupt the world’s oil supplies, but Lundberg explained that once war broke out, it could relieve the uncertainty that has fueled prices.

The most expensive gas was found in San Francisco, at just under $1.97 a gallon, while the cheapest was in Tulsa, Okla., at $1.49, according to the survey.

Oil prices rose toward two-year highs on Friday after a fuel barge exploded at an oil terminal in New York, briefly sparking terrorism fears.

The blast in the Arthur Kill waterway between Staten Island and New Jersey sent prices on the nearby New York Mercantile Exchange soaring before law enforcement officials said it was an accident.

U.S. crude for delivery in April climbed 84 cents to $35.58, up more than 40% since mid-November.

Prices strengthened even before the explosion as the U.S. said it had massed enough troops in the Persian Gulf region to attack Iraq, the world’s eighth-largest oil exporter.

Inventories also have been crimped by a cut in supplies from Venezuela, which is struggling to restore normal exports after a two-month strike by oil company employees.

Heating oil futures also surged Friday, hitting a session high of $1.12 a gallon, a gain of nearly 5% on the day.