Gasoline prices rose for the eighth consecutive week in Southern California which usually has the highest gasoline prices in the nation, the Auto Club said Friday.

The average price of a gallon of regular self-serve gasoline rose 5.9 cents in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area this week, the eighth consecutive weekly increase, moving within 20 cents of the record high, said the Auto Club.

Tight supplies combined with concerns about stability in the Middle East pushed the average price to 3.205 dollars a gallon on Friday, 41 cents more than last month and 47 cents more than a year ago, according to the latest survey of the region's gas stations by the Automobile Club of Southern California.

The record high of 3.402 dollar was set May 13, 2006.

The average price per gallon rose 5 cents from March 16-23, 16. 2 cents from March 9-16, 11.7 cents from March 2-9, 12.6 cents from Feb. 23-March 2, 4.8 cents from Feb. 16-23, 8.4 cents from Feb. 9-16 and 7.1 cents from Feb. 2-9 after dropping for five consecutive weeks.

"In addition to the other factors that always seem to drive up prices in the spring, this week brought new concerns about stability in the Middle East that affected the gasoline and crude oil market nationally and worldwide," Auto Club spokeswoman Carol Thorp said.

"But California is still the only state with an average gas price above 3 dollars a gallon."

The Auto Club provided this breakdown of gasoline prices in selected portions of California and Nevada as of 12:01 a.m. Friday.

Source: Xinhua