Prices jumped nearly 11 cents over the past two weeks to $2.35
for a gallon of regular-grade gasoline, even though the price of crude oil dropped, a national survey said Sunday.
The hike obliterates the 9-cent drop that had begun January 20, said Trilby Lundberg, publisher of the Lundberg Survey.
"Those five weeks of declines were due largely to our being at the bottom of our gasoline-demand curve," she said.
The price rise came even as the cost of a barrel of crude fell from $62.91 on February 24 to $59.96 last Friday -- a 7-cent-per-gallon drop.
Lundberg said an expected increased demand for gasoline in the spring and new government gasoline formulation requirements conspired to drive up prices at the pump.
Prices are not likely to fall any time soon, she said.
"With our demand building and those new recipe requirements coming into effect, gas prices will most likely surge much higher," she predicted.
"Some of those regulations are seasonal in nature; they become more severe and more expensive as the weather gets warmer."
Prices in Newark, New Jersey, were the lowest, at $2.15 for a gallon of regular; they were highest in Honolulu, Hawaii, at $2.63 per gallon, she said.
The survey was carried out March 10. The previous survey was carried out February 24.
The following are some other cities' prices for a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline:
We never have gotten below $2.00. 