Gasoline above $3 a gallon by summer

NEW YORK (AP) - Retail gas prices likely bottomed out last week, and they're again headed to above $3 a gallon this summer, experts said Monday.

Pump prices typically rise this time of year as refineries switch to a more expensive grade of gas. But this year, prices are increasing after millions of Americans received pink slips and kept their cars in the driveway.

"If you look at demand, it's just abysmal," said Fred Rozell, retail pricing director at Oil Price Information Service.

What's pushing prices higher isn't American consumption. It's the crude oil that's used to make motor fuel, Rozell said. Crude is an international commodity that's become ever more expensive as demand grows in China.

Retail gas prices rose Monday for the fifth straight day, adding less than a penny overnight to a new national average of $2.648 a gallon, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service.

A gallon of regular unleaded is still cheaper than it was a month ago. It's also 73.1 cents more expensive than the same time last year.

Even though prices are climbing, motorists shouldn't expect a return of the price spikes of 2008, when gasoline jumped above $4 a gallon in some parts of the country. Americans simply aren't burning enough fuel to push prices that high, Rozell said.

"I'll be surprised if it got over $3.25," he said.

Benchmark oil for March delivery slipped 3 cents Monday to $79.78 a barrel on the contract's final day of trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Most of the trading volume already has shifted to the April contract, which added a penny at $80.07 a barrel.

In other Nymex trading in March contracts, heating oil rose less than a penny to $2.0779 a gallon, and gasoline gained 1.63 cents at $2.102 a gallon. Natural gas dropped 19 cents to $4.854 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent crude gave up 21 cents to $77.98 on the ICE futures exchange.

___

Associated Press writers Pablo Gorondi in Budapest, Hungary and Alex Kennedy in Singapore contributed to this report.