Gasoline prices expected to rise in summer months

WASHINGTON -- Gasoline prices are surging again with summer on the horizon, pushing or even passing $3 a gallon in some places.\nDrivers aren't expected to ease off on their mileage, sending demand higher than last year. But they are grumbling.\nThe Energy Department says it expects the price of regular to average $2.62 a gallon, 25 cents more than last summer, over the April-September driving period. But prices around the country already are above that.\n"Look, it's $41 to fill it up," complained Lorenzo Rivera, 26, a restaurant manager, as he pumped mid-level gas Tuesday at $3.05 a gallon at a Chevron station near the Watergate complex in Northwest Washington. Across the street at an ExxonMobil station, regular grade was going for $3.09 -- and there weren't many customers.\nErvin Goodall, 56, a professional driver pumping supreme grade into his large sedan, was paying $3.29 a gallon. "It's lot higher than last year, a bigger hit," said Goodall, who added that when it comes to personal driving he's scaling back -- no more Saturday day trips.\nGuy Caruso, head of the Energy Department's statistical agency, said prices at the pump, which averaged $2.68 a gallon last week nationwide, are likely to increase 10 to 15 cents a gallon in the coming weeks, peak in May and drop off in late summer. He said the national average can mask local price spikes.\n"We assume normal weather," added Caruso. If a hurricane or a refinery outage causes supply problems, or if crude oil takes a major jump, prices will be higher yet.\nCrude oil climbed above $69 a barrel Tuesday to the highest level this year before easing back somewhat. Wholesale gasoline for delivery in May was a shade over $2 a gallon, 29 percent higher than a year ago.\nBut Caruso said motorists are not expected to cut back on their summer driving -- a view mirrored by AAA, formerly the American Automobile Association, which also predicts a busy summer travel season.\nIn fact, motorists are expected to use 1.5 percent more gasoline than last summer.\n"Although the price of gasoline is very high, the fact is the economy still seems to be growing," said Geoff Sundstrom, a spokesman for AAA. "We're adding jobs, so we would expect we would see a relatively strong summer travel season."\nGas prices last week were 40 percent higher than the same week a year ago and are likely rise further as higher crude oil and wholesale gasoline costs move through the system, said Caruso.\nSupplies are expected to be adequate, barring a major disruption and crude oil is expected to remain high, averaging $65 a barrel for the year, the Energy Department said.\nRefiners have been shifting away from the additive MTBE -- which causes drinking water contamination -- resulting in a greater demand for corn-based ethanol. That's pushing up prices "a few pennies," Caruso said.\nThe refiners have said they will stop using MTBE on May 5 when the federal requirement for a clean-air oxygenate is lifted as part of an energy law enacted last summer.\n"It will be a challenge to meet the demand for ethanol, although production is ramping up," said Caruso. The ethanol industry has said it will produce enough.\nUnknown is how high prices might go if the Gulf Coast is hit by another major hurricane this summer or if there is some other significant supply disruption.\nGasoline soared to a national average of $3.07 a gallon -- and considerably higher in some areas -- after Hurricane Katrina wiped out production in the Gulf of Mexico and shut down major refineries last year.\n-- Associated Press writer Elizabeth White contributed to this story.