Average US Price of Gas Jumps 8 Cents Per Gallon to $3.10

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) -- The average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline jumped 8 cents over the past two weeks, to $3.10 per gallon.

Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey said Sunday that the increase is attributed to supply disruption from the 10-day shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline following a cyberattack, and a rise in prices for corn, a key ingredient in corn-based ethanol that must be blended by refiners into gasoline.

The price at the pump is $1.05 higher than it was a year ago.

The highest average price in the nation right now is $4.23 a gallon in the San Francisco Bay Area. The lowest average is $2.53 in Houston.

The average price of diesel is up 6 cents over the same period, to $3.22.

Colonial, which supplies about 45% of the fuel consumed on the East Coast, said that after it learned of the May 7 ransomware attack, it took its pipeline system offline in order to restart operations quickly and safely. The shutdown led to panic buying of gasoline in many communities.