U.S. Gasoline Prices Climb to Nearly $3

Average U.S. retail gasoline prices settled at nearly $3 a gallon Friday, according to the latest Lundberg Survey, reaching that level for the first time since hurricane damage created a gas shortage in the fall.

The national average for self-serve regular was $2.995, a jump of about 11 cents a gallon in the last two weeks, according to the Camarillo-based survey of 7,000 stations.

Friday’s price was 4.79 cents higher than the year’s previous peak of $2.947 on May 5, survey author Trilby Lundberg said. A year earlier, before hurricanes hit Gulf Coast refineries, the average price was about 69 cents lower, at $2.307 a gallon.

Lundberg does not necessarily expect more increases.

“The most likely scenario for the near term would be stability or moderate declines,” she said. “There’s enough gasoline imports to fill up the gap between domestic capacity and our demand, and demand growth is, for the moment, nonexistent. We are halfway through the summer with sufficient supply.”

Honolulu, at $3.27 a gallon, had the highest average price for self-serve regular, the survey found. The lowest price was $2.70 in Charleston, S.C.

The federal Energy Information Administration will release the results of its weekly price survey today.