Gas prices edge close to $3

(CNN) -- Prices at the pump have jumped 14 cents over the past few weeks, working their way closer to the $3 mark, according to a survey published Sunday.

The average price nationwide of a gallon of self-serve regular is $2.74, the Lundberg Survey found.

That's the highest price since October 2008.

"It's very possible" prices will keep jumping in the coming weeks," said publisher Trilby Lundberg.

But the average is unlikely to hit the $3 mark soon, Lundberg said. "It is certainly possible" that prices will go that high, "but not quickly," she said.

The reason for the latest spike is an increase in crude oil prices, Lundberg said. Oil prices have gone up enough to trigger a 22-cent increase in prices, but refiners and retailers have absorbed some of the difference, taking a loss in order to stay competitive, she said. "Both of those sectors of the petroleum industry are hurting."

Gasoline demand remains relatively low due to the economy and high unemployment, she said.

The latest Lundberg Survey -- the first one for 2010 -- tallied prices at thousands of gas stations nationwide on Friday, three weeks after the previous survey

The city with the lowest price was Cheyenne, Wyoming, where a gallon of self-serve regular went for an average of $2.36.

The highest was in Anchorage, Alaska at $3.28.

Here are prices in some other cities:

-San Francisco, California - $3.06

-Seattle, Washington - $2.87

-Phoenix, Arizona - $2.58

-Houston, Texas - $2.54

-Milwaukee, Wisconsin - $2.77

-Atlanta, Georgia - $2.69

-Miami, Florida - $2.78

-Washington, D.C. - $2.74

-Boston, Massachusetts - $2.73