Analyst: Gas headed toward $3 per gallon

NEW YORK, March 8 (UPI) -- U.S. gasoline prices could hit an average of $3 per gallon between April and June, petroleum industry analyst Tom Kloza predicted.

Gas prices rose nearly a nickel in the past week, reaching $2.753 Monday, AAA said.

In the past month, prices have risen about 9 cents.

Kloza, an analyst at Oil Price Information Service, said U.S. motorists were spending $250 million more per day at the gas pump than they were a year ago -- shelling out about $1 billion a day.

"That's a drag on the economy," he said in a New York Times report.