Gas Prices Creeping Higher Because of Trouble in Egypt

The price of gasoline is still moving higher, though at a slower pace. After leveing off last week, prices crept higher this week as tensions increased in Egypt.

The national average price of self-serve regular today is $3.124 a gallon, up from $3.10 last Friday, according to AAA's Fuel Gauge Survey. The average price of diesel fuel is  moving up at a faster pace, rising a nickel to $3.471 a gallon, up from $3.427 last week.

The price rebound is disconcerting, not just for motorists who have to pay more at the pump. Economists have worried that if gasoline prices keep rising, it will choke off the fragile recovery, since consumers will have less money to spend on other things.

Gas prices have been following the path of crude oil, which has risen in recent weeks over concerns about political turmoil in Egypt.

Middle East influence

"While Egypt isn't one of the world's largest oil producers, it is a key point of transit for global oil supply as home to both the Suez Canal and the Suez-Mediterranean pipeline," said Andrew Delmege, AAA's manager of regulatory affairs. "The Suez Canal links the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea and, according to a 2009 estimate, 1.8 million barrels of crude passes through the canal per day, or eight percent of global seaborne trade."

The good news for motorists is gasoline supplies remain plentiful. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports U.S. gasoline stockpiles rose by 6.2 million barrels last week as demand for the fuel dropped. Crude oil stocks are also plentiful.

The states with the most expensive gasoline today are:

• Hawaii ($3.731)

• Alaska ($3.605)

• California ($3.389)

• New York ($3.382)

• Connecticut ($3.338)

• Illinois ($3.272)

• Washington ($3.257)

• Oregon ($3.228)

• Vermont ($3.231)

• Maine ($3.210)

The states with the least expensive gasoline today are:

• Wyoming ($2.879)

• Missouri ($2.938)

• South Carolina ($2.939)

• Utah ($2.945)

• Mississippi ($2.956)

• Tennessee ($2.960)

• Texas ($2.961)

• Colorado ($2.983)

• Idaho ($2.988)

• Arkansas ($2.988)