Gas prices jump but no steady climb forecast

By the CNN Wire Staff

The average price at the pump is 98 cents higher than it was a year ago, says the publisher of a new survey.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

The average price is $3.67, according to a new survey
The price is 98 cents higher than it was a year ago
The survey publisher does not expect an upward trend in the near future

(CNN) -- U.S. gas prices have edged up 6 cents over the past two weeks, but don't fret that a steady climb is on the horizon, the publisher of a new survey said Sunday.

The average price of a gallon of regular is $3.67, up nearly 6 cents from two weeks earlier, the Lundberg Survey found.

"Most of the cause is slightly higher crude oil prices during the same two-week period," said publisher Trilby Lundberg. "A minor contributor was higher ethanol prices."

"I don't think this is an up trend in the making," she said. Given that "there is no visible threat to supply," and crude oil price behavior is expected to be "mild in the near future, gasoline will be able to behave according to its nature," she said. "And its nature right now is to drop because our demand is shrinking."

High unemployment is keeping many people off the roads, she said.

The average price at the pump is 98 cents higher than it was a year ago, largely because of crude oil prices, Lundberg said.

The Lundberg Survey tallies prices at thousands of gas stations nationwide.

The city with the lowest average gas price found in the latest survey, taken Friday, was Tucson, Arizona, at $3.32. Chicago had the highest average at $4.02. Differences among cities are often determined largely by taxes.

Here are average prices in some other cities:

Houston -- $3.42

Salt Lake City -- $3.54

Atlanta -- $3.60

Philadelphia -- $3.66

Boston -- $3.73

Baltimore -- $3.56

Seattle -- $3.85

San Diego -- $3.95