Average gas prices topped $4 a gallon in Washington, D.C., for only the fifth time ever on Thursday, the 35th straight day of increases that have seen prices rise by a total 42 cents.
Drivers are being hit with the biggest one-day jump in gasoline prices in 18 months just as the last heavy driving weekend of the summer approaches.
You may pay more than ever for a late-summer drive.
A major fire at one of the country's biggest oil refineries that put scores of people in the hospital with breathing problems will push gas prices above $4 a gallon on the West Coast, analysts said Tuesday.
U.S. drivers will pay an average of 24 cents more per gallon for gasoline during this summer's travel season, the government said Tuesday.
Gasoline is now over $4 per gallon in four states and Washington, D.C., as a three-month surge in pump prices continues.
Gasoline prices have never been higher this time of the year. At $3.53 a gallon, prices are already up 25 cents since Jan. 1. And experts say they could reach a record $4.25 a gallon by late April.
![Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann's campaign promise to get gas back down to $2 a gallon if she's elected has created skepticism among energy industry experts. "Many [politicians] will say or do just about anything to get elected," said Robert Rapier of Consumer Energy Report. (Associated Press)](http://media.washtimes.com/media/image/2011/08/23/20110823-215227-pic-876640499_s101x65.jpg?315bd4d25c31152ae3aa452812c050925e084e73)
Many energy industry experts are skeptical of Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann's campaign promise to get gas back down to $2 a gallon if she's elected.
Two weeks after the U.S. and other oil-importing nations took action that knocked down the price of oil to almost $90 a barrel, it's back around $100. And gas pump prices, which had dropped since May, are up about a nickel since Friday.
