Gas prices jump nearly 9 cents

CAMARILLO, Calif. -- Gasoline prices saw their biggest increase in nearly a year during the last two weeks.

Friday's average price per gallon for all grades and taxes was nearly $1.24, up 8.77 cents per gallon from Feb. 22, according to the Lundberg survey of 8,000 gas stations nationwide.

Prices had been hovering around $1.14 a gallon since the beginning of the year until the latest spike, which analyst Trilby Lundberg attributed mostly to rising crude oil prices.

Another factor was maintenance work performed at some refineries to prepare for the springtime rise in demand, she said.

"It does seem likely that prices will increase" more, Lundberg said Sunday. Whether the increases will be moderate or major depends largely on whether tensions rise in the Middle East, she added.

"It's possible at any moment for the crude oil market to get the jitters and jump," Lundberg said.

Friday's average price was nearly 25 cents lower than pump prices a year earlier, and prices remain far less than they were before the terrorist attacks. The average price was $1.56 per gallon Sept. 7, and fell to just under $1.12 in December.

The national average price of gasoline, including taxes, at self-serve pumps Friday was about $1.20 per gallon for regular, $1.30 for mid-grade and $1.39 for premium.