Pain At The Pump

Supply shortages pushed average retail gasoline prices up more than 15 cents a gallon nationally during the past two weeks, the largest retail price hike on record since the Lundberg Survey began keeping records 50 years ago.

"What happened was a convergence of phenomena, a gasoline shortage in the East from the blackout, shutting refineries, and in the West, from the shutdown of a refinery in Arizona," analyst Trilby Lundberg told CBS Radio News.

Analysts also say investors are skittish about unrest in Liberia and Venezuala, both major oil exporters, and continuing problems in Iraq, which used to be one, reports CBS News Correspondent Cynthia Bowers.

The survey of 8,000 service stations on Friday showed an average of all grades of gasoline, including taxes, reached $1.7484 a gallon, just short of the survey's all-time high weighted average of $1.7608 set last March 21, Lundberg said.

Self-serve regular gasoline showed an average weighted price of $1.7191 a gallon, with mid-grade at $1.8127 and premium grade at $1.9046.

Phoenix had the highest leap in the nation during the two-week period, with prices jumping 60.42 cents a gallon for self-serve regular. On Aug. 22, self-serve regular averaged $2.1425, the highest price in the nation for that grade.

By comparison, the lowest price for that grade was in Charleston, S.C., where the average for self-serve regular was $1.4920.

However, Lundberg said there is hope at the pump.

"Both the pipeline closure in Arizona and the shutdowns of refineries in the East are over now," she said. "Also, in September, we always use less gasoline, so the signs point to an end to these price increases."

Lundberg couldn't say when prices would stabilize or decrease. Right now, she said, prices are still about a penny a gallon less than they were at the end of March.

"I think it's pretty much guaranteed we're going to break through that national record (of $1.72 a gallon for regular grade) in the next ten days," Tom Kloza of Oil Price Information Service told CBS News.

There's no question the oil companies are making money — as much as 20 or 30 cents on every gallon of gas they sell.

"Refining margins have swelled to numbers that we've actually never seen," says Kloza. "We never even saw these numbers back in the seventies."

Gasoline was once again flowing Sunday through a crucial pipeline that normally supplies about a third of Phoenix-area's gas, even though it's expected to be several days before supplies begin flowing here at a normal level.

Trucked-in fuel, relaxed gas restrictions and less panic pumping also have eased or eliminated lines at gas stations.

The trouble started when the pipeline ruptured due to corrosion on July 30. The line, which brings gas in from El Paso, Texas, was opened Aug. 1 but shut down on Aug. 8 after safety concerns surfaced.