Gasoline prices are on the upswing in Texas in the wake of Hurricane Rita.

The Triple-A Texas gas price survey released Friday shows the average price of self-serve regular gas at the pump increased ten cents to more than $2.77 a gallon, nearly a dollar more than last year’s record high average of $1.82.Beaumont is the only city to show a decrease in the pump price, which the auto club attributes to lack of demand in the devastated area. It shows the lowest average pump price of $2.60.

Fort Worth shows the highest price average of $2.83 per gallon, up almost 15 cents from the week before.

Triple-A Texas spokeswoman Rose Rougeau says the upward price trend could change once storm-idled refineries resume operations.

Prices Friday around Texas ranged from $2.60 a gallon at a station in Temple to $3.15 a gallon at a station in Robinson to $3.29 a gallon at a station in McKinney.

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The national average price for regular self-serve gasoline is about $2.81 per gallon, up almost seven cents from last week.

Meanwhile oil prices held steady in early trading Friday after a volatile week.

Benchmark light, sweet crude for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange was trading below $67 a barrel in electronic trading.

Prices rose Thursday on news that Gulf of Mexico oil production had resumed, but only slightly.

The Minerals Management Service says as of Thursday, 98.6 percent of output was still blocked.

Suspended natural gas production was slightly lower at nearly 80 percent.

Underscoring the lingering concerns, Exxon Mobil says its 183,000-barrel-a-day Chalmette, La, refinery should resume operations in November.