NEW YORK (CNN) -
Gasoline prices have continued their record climb, jumping 10 cents over the last two weeks, a survey reported Sunday.
A gallon of self-serve regular costs on average $1.93, the Lundberg survey found.
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| Average price for self-serve regular hits $1.93 a gallon and is likely to head higher. |
The survey of thousands of gas stations was conducted May 7, two weeks after a previous survey found an average price of $1.83.
The price is up 45 cents since Dec. 19.
The 10-cent jump over two weeks is the largest since August, when a West coast pipeline was closed and several refineries were temporarily shutdown during a major blackout, publisher Trilby Lundberg said.
The latest hike is due mostly to a rise in the cost of crude oil, which is up to $40 a barrel, she told CNN.
Expect prices to keep rising, she warned. "OPEC seems positioned to keep output constrained."
U.S. drivers have increased demand for gasoline as they head into the traditional peak driving season of June through August, Lundberg said, adding that economic recovery has put more drivers on the roads.
Also, U.S. environmental standards require special refining procedures, which translate into a price hike at the pump, she said.
"We cannot expect a big downward move in the very near term."
Short of a worldwide drop in the demand for oil, she said, "it appears further gasoline price increases are more likely than a plateau."
The lowest average price of a gallon of self-serve regular found by the survey was in Norfolk, Va. at $1.75; the highest was San Diego, at $2.25.
The price of a gallon of self-serve regular in some other U.S. cities:
- Atlanta $1.81
- Washington $1.87
- Boston $1.89
- Detroit $1.93
- Phoenix $2.11
- Seattle $2.15
- Long Island, N.Y. $2.02
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