Gas price jumps 12.5¢ over week

The average U.S. pump price for regular-grade gasoline surged 12.5 cents, or 4.5 percent, to $2.928 a gallon over the past week, as refineries worked to restore production that was disrupted by hurricanes, according to a government report.

Monday's average nationwide price was up 12 percent from $2.61 at the end of August and was 51 percent higher than $1.938 a gallon a year ago, the U.S. Energy Department report showed.

The nationwide average diesel price increased 34.6 cents in the week ended Monday to a record $3.144 a gallon.

Fuel prices have soared since the end of August after Hurricanes Rita and Katrina swept through the Gulf of Mexico, forcing refinery and pipeline shutdowns and slashing offshore oil production. Sixteen refineries in Texas and Louisiana were closed Sept. 21-22 for Rita, and eight of those remain shut after losing power or sustaining damage.

Combined with four other refineries in Louisiana and Mississippi that are still shut because of flooding and other damage from Katrina in late August, about 3.16 million barrels a day of refining capacity, or almost 19 percent of the U.S. total, is currently idle.

The latest U.S. retail gasoline average is below the record of $3.069 a gallon reached on Sept. 5, a week after Katrina reached land. The government's gasoline price report is based on a survey of about 1,200 filling stations in 50 states.