(CNN) -- U.S. gasoline prices have gone up by nearly a dime
a gallon in the past two weeks, reversing a three-month slide amid an increase
in crude oil costs, according to a new nationwide survey.
The average prices of a gallon of
regular gasoline at filling stations in the continental United States jumped
about 9.6 cents per gallon, to just under $3.51, according to the latest
Lundberg Survey. Gas prices had been falling since April 6, skidding downward by
56 cents a gallon by mid-July, survey publisher Trilby Lundberg said Sunday.
The price of crude oil -- the
largest single component of gasoline -- on the New York futures market went up
about $3 a barrel in the past two weeks, closing Friday at more than $90. That
helped drive prices upward, Lundberg said. But she said motorists may see "a
comparative period of stability" at the pump.
"Weakness in demand around the
world from economic conditions is keeping the price from rising further, while
the Middle East tensions and a great deal of noise in the currency markets about
the possibility of printing more money in Europe and the United States is having
the effect of raising the price of crude," she said.
The Lundberg Survey samples
prices at about 2,500 gas stations across the Lower 48 every two weeks, most
recently on Friday. Lundberg said the current price is still 46 cents below the
April peak and down more than 10 cents from a year ago.
Jackson, Mississippi, had the
cheapest average prices in the latest survey, at $3.14 a gallon. The highest
were on Long Island, New York, at $3.83.
A sampling of prices in other
U.S. cities:
Atlanta: $3.49
Baton Rouge. Louisiana: $3.30
Boston $3.62
Cleveland: $3.45
Denver: $3.47
Phoenix: $3.21
Portland, Oregon: $3.58
San Francisco: $3.80
