NEW YORK (CNN) -- Gas prices at the pump held steady after BP announced it was shutting down a major oil operation in Alaska due to a corroded pipeline, AAA reported Tuesday.

The average price for regular unleaded was $3.036 per gallon at the end of the day Monday, unchanged from Sunday.

BP broke the news Sunday evening that it was closing its Prudhoe Bay oil operation - cutting production by 400,000 barrels a day or 8 percent of U.S. domestic production - after finding "unexpectedly severe corrosion" on one line and a small oil spill.

Crude oil prices began inching up as soon as the announcement was made, and analysts predicted consumers could expect an increase in gas prices at the pump.

But those prices aren't what worries consumers most, according to a CNN poll conducted by Opinion Research Corporation before the BP announcement was made.

In a survey among 1,047 adult Americans conducted Aug. 2 and 3, 52 percent of those asked said long lines and rationing at gas pumps worries them more than higher gas prices.

Thirty-seven percent said higher gas prices are more worrisome than shortages.

Nearly two-thirds of those questioned said higher gas prices have already caused a hardship for their family, while 34 percent said they hadn't.

The AAA record for regular unleaded is $3.057, which was recorded Sept. 5, 2005, seven days after Hurricane Katrina blasted the Gulf coast and disrupted refinery production and distribution.

Although the BP pipeline transported 8 percent of the domestic oil production, it provided only about 2.5 percent of U.S. oil supplies, most of which are imported.

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