(September 18, 2008)--Retail gasoline prices across the state jumped 16 cents in the past week as recovery efforts continue after Hurricane Ike, AAA-Texas said Thursday.
AAA Texas reports the statewide average price for gasoline reached $3.70 per gallon this week.
The national average price for retail gasoline was $3.83, also up 16 cents in the past week.
AAA says the least expensive gasoline was in Corpus Christi, at $3.62 per gallon.
Texarkana had the highest average price, at $3.78 per gallon, AAA said.
Ike slammed the Gulf coast, making landfall at Galveston, last Saturday.
"As South Texas recovers from Hurricane Ike, AAA Texas is finding that gas prices jumped significantly but according to Thursday's numbers the rate of increase has slowed in the past couple of days, so we may be nearing a peak," said AAA Texas Houston spokesperson Sarah Schimmer.
"Oil prices this week are more than $50 a barrel lower than their mid-July high, and the big question now is how long it will take the refineries and oil rigs to get power restored and come back online."
There have been some complaints of price gouging by retailers, but AAA found that most dealers aren’t to capitalize on the situation that resulted from the hurricane.
"There have been reports that some gas stations are trying to take advantage of customers, but AAA Texas has found that these stations are in the minority," Schimmer said.
Around the state Thursday, prices ranged from as little as $3.38 a gallon at a station in Dalhart to as much as $3.99 a gallon at stations in Amarillo and College Station, according to Texasgasprices.com, which tracked prices of $4 or more in the days immediately after Ike struck.
