Gas Prices Taking Off Again

The price consumers pay for gasoline at the pump jumped over a nickel a gallon in the last week, as oil prices moved past the $106 a barrel mark in the last few days.

The average price of self-serve regular gas today is $3.61.9 a gallon, up from $3.561 seven days ago, according to AAA's Fuel Gauge Survey.

Diesel fuel prices also rose another two cents a gallon, with the average price at $3.966 a gallon today, up from $3.946 seven days ago.

Calamity and turmoil

"As has been the case for much of 2011, unrest in the Middle East and Northern Africa and the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami has continued to drive the markets during the past week," said Andrew Delmege, AAA's manager of regulatory affairs. "With significant uncertainty involving the situations in both regions, experts expect developments with these stories to continue to be at the center of crude oil price movement moving forward."

Despite the high price of gas, supplies of the fuel are tightening. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported this week that inventories of gasoline fell by 2.7 million barrels to 217 million barrels. However, energy analysts say the U.S. has ample supplies of gasoline on hand, and stockpiles of crude oil are actually increasing.

This week, California joined Hawaii and Alaska as states where the average gas price has risen above $4 a gallon.

The states with the most expensive gasoline today are:

• Hawaii ($4.270)
• Alaska ($4.076)
• California ($4.047)
• Washington ($3.797)
• New York ($3.785)
• Connecticut ($3.785)
• Oregon ($3.770)
• Illinois ($3.754)
• Vermont ($3.621)
• Maine ($3.613)

The states with the least expensive gasoline today are:

• Wyoming ($3.403)
• New Jersey ($3.414)
• Missouri ($3.448)
• Colorado ($3.448)
• Oklahoma ($3.451)
• South Carolina ($3.464)
• Tennessee ($3.484)
• Arkansas ($3.485)
• Mississippi ($3.496)
• Alabama ($3.506)