CAMARILLO, Calif — 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.