Motorists are well down the road to higher pump prices as warmer weather and the driving

season approach.

Average retail gasoline prices, continuing a surge that started last month, have now

matched their 2010 high on the way to prices that many analysts believe will top $3 per gallon

this spring.

The nationwide average retail gasoline price rose 0.6 cents Monday to $2.753 per gallon,

virtually identical to the high-water mark of $2.7583 reached on Jan. 14, according to AAA,

Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service.

Prices have risen 9.2 cents in the last month and are now 80.6 cents higher than levels of

a year ago.

In the Buffalo Niagara region, the average price of a gallon of regular on Monday was

$2.90, up three cents from a week ago and up 81 cents from a year ago.

The Energy Information Administration is among those predicting $3-a-gallon gas this

spring.

The jump in retail prices follows an increase in wholesale gasoline prices. April contracts

on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 1.82 cents to settle at $2.2892 per gallon.

An 18 percent rise in oil prices over the past month that pushed crude near a 2010 high of

$83.95 a barrel is also boosting gas prices.

Part of the increase in gasoline prices is seasonal. Prices typically go up in the spring as

refiners switch to more expensive blends of gasoline. Demand usually picks up as motorists

emerge from hibernation and hit the road.

But things may be different this year. The U.S. remains well supplied with gasoline and oil, so there is no prospect of a supply shortage driving up prices. Also, the high unemployment rate and uncertainty about the economic recovery have kept demand for

gasoline about where it was a year ago.

Benchmark crude for April delivery rose 37 cents to settle at $81.87 a barrel on the Nymex. Earlier in the session, it peaked at $82.41.

In other trading in April contracts, heating oil rose 0.81 cents to settle at $2.1055 a

gallon. Natural gas fell 6.6 cents to settle at $4.527 per 1,000 cubic feet. During the

trading day, natural gas touched a new 52-week low at $4.458 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent crude gained 58 cents to settle at $80.47 on the ICE futures exchange.