PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- The pump price of gasoline in the United States will hit $4 per gallon soon, an industry expert said Thursday.
"There's no question gas will hit $4 a gallon," Ben Brockwell, director of pricing at the Oil Price Information Service, said. His company supplies AAA with daily reports on fuel prices. "Consumers haven't seen the worst of it yet," Brockwell predicted.
AAA said the average pump price of gasoline hit $2.68 per gallon Thursday.
Some U.S. cities, particularly in Hawaii, already pay more than $3 per gallon, and some Georgia service stations were reportedly charging from about $6 per gallon to as much as $8 per gallon, CNN reported. San Francisco was averaging $2.949 by early afternoon Thursday.
While stunning for U.S. residents, retail gasoline at $4 per gallon would remain well below Europe's current prices, which are considerably higher.
Hurricane Katrina has cut the nation's refining capacity by 12 percent and its crude oil and natural gas production by about 25 percent.
