gas050908

StarTribune.com content is available via e-mail, mobile devices and as RSS feeds.

Mobile content

Advertise with us

Home | Local + Metro

Will gas surge to $4 a gallon soon?

Justin Sullivan, Getty Images

A gasoline tanker driver pumps gasoline into an underground tank in San Francisco. Gasoline prices are expected to keep climbing.

Last update: May 8, 2008 - 10:43 PM

Twin Cities gasoline prices are rising further into record territory as the summer driving season approaches.

A gallon of regular unleaded averaged $3.54 in the metro area Thursday, AAA reported, up 8 cents from just a day earlier. TwinCitiesGasPrices.com reported an even higher price, $3.64, up about 5 cents from Wednesday and 19 cents in the past two days.

"We've been seeing gas prices really jump over the past few days," said Jason Toews, co-founder of TwinCitiesGasPrices.com. He expects to see $4-a-gallon gasoline at some Twin Cities stations by Memorial Day.

Nationally, the average price of a gallon of regular rose 2.7 cents to a record $3.645, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Diesel prices also rose, adding 0.9 cent to match a record national average of $4.251 a gallon.

Gasoline prices tend to lag behind oil futures, and with crude rising to a new record near $124 a barrel Wednesday and likely headed higher, it's widely expected the average price of gas will soon rise as high as $4.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery rose 16 cents to reach a settlement record of $123.69 a barrel Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS