Gasoline prices climb for first time in more than a month

NEW YORK -- Retail gasoline prices swung higher Friday — the first increase in 43 days — as one analyst warned that a direct hit on U.S. energy infrastructure by Tropical Storm Gustav could send pump prices hurtling toward $5 a gallon.

Meanwhile, oil prices ended the day slightly lower, falling for a second straight session. But prices fluctuated sharply as some traders feared supply disruptions and others bet the government will release supplies from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve if Gustav wreaks havoc in the Gulf of Mexico area — home to a quarter of U.S. crude supplies and 40% of refining capacity.

Gustav was spinning away from Jamaica on a course toward Gulf Coast states including Louisiana — three years to the day since Hurricane Katrina slammed into the state and tore up oil rigs and refineries.

Fears of another monster storm have sent wholesale gasoline prices shooting up in the Gulf region, forcing filling stations to pass on the costs by raising pump prices ahead of Labor Day weekend.

A gallon of regular gasoline jumped about a penny overnight to a national average of $3.669, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express.

That's the first increase since prices peaked at an average $4.114 a gallon on July 17, an all-time high.

Jeff Rubin, chief economist at investment bank CIBC World Markets, said that record could be shattered if Gustav seriously disrupts offshore energy production.

In 2005, pump prices jumped from slightly more than $2 a gallon to above $3 after Katrina and Hurricane Rita destroyed more than 100 oil platforms and damaged several refineries.

"The price consequences could be even worse this time," Rubin said in a report, noting that oil and gasoline inventories are lower than when Katrina and Rita hit. "Any replays of the 2005 storm season could see gasoline prices soar to $5 per gallon."

Gustav was moving northwest of Jamaica after triggering floods and killing 59 people in Haiti and eight more in the Dominican Republic. Forecasters said it could strengthen into a hurricane before striking the Cayman Islands on Friday.