Gas prices hit record, may go to $4 a gallon

Gasoline prices, already at a record high in Seattle and likely to hit that mark statewide soon, could rise to $4 a gallon here this summer if oil prices keep rising, a spokeswoman for a local auto group said Monday.

"No one has a crystal ball, but $4 a gallon is certainly not outside the realm of possibility," said Janet Ray of AAA Washington, which serves motorists in Washington and northern Idaho.

Why are gas prices rising?

"If oil prices go up, gasoline prices at the pump follow -- though if oil prices come down, gas prices don't necessarily drop, too," Ray said.

And crude oil prices have been climbing to new heights recently.

Monday, crude futures reached an all-time record of $103.95 a barrel before closing slightly lower. The prior record, set in April 1980, was $103.76 when adjusted for inflation. A barrel cost less than $25 on Sept. 11, 2001, as measured in 2006 dollars.

Statewide, Monday's average price for self-serve regular gas was $3.436. Just a month before, it was $3.051, a difference of 39 cents. Over the month, prices have risen an average of 10 cents a week -- "an extremely fast increase," Ray said.

A year ago Monday, the average price statewide was $2.581.

"Yet we're being told that we have more supply (than then) and (that) demand has been relatively flat," Ray said.

Gas prices in the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett area are already at a record high: $3.466, up 88 cents from $2.592 a year ago.

What might drive prices up to and over $4? Ray cited the combination of:

Continued oil-price increases.

Increased demand as more drivers return to the roads in the warm weather.

A pause in supply as refineries make their annual changeover from winter-formula to summer-formula gasoline.

Nationwide, the average pump price for regular gasoline rose 3.2 cents to $3.162 a gallon in the week ended Monday, the government said.

The price was 65.7 cents per gallon higher than a year ago, the U.S. Energy Department said in a weekly report. Diesel fuel rose 10.6 cents to $3.658 a gallon, according to the report, which is based on a survey of about 800 filling stations.

The price of gas rose the most in California: up 13.1 cents to $3.459 a gallon. California had the highest average price. The lowest average price, $3.08 a gallon, was in the Midwest region, where prices were unchanged from last week.

The least expensive gas in the Puget Sound area is $3.17 a gallon, at a Costco station in Woodinville, according to the Web site SeattleGasPrices.com.