Although Hurricane Ike did not seriously flood refineries along the Texas gulf coast, gasoline production in the area, which is responsible for approximately 25 percent of America's supply of fuel, will be hampered for weeks to come.

The disruption to the area's gasoline production capacity is attributed mainly to early shut-downs and continued electrical outages rather than major structural damage, but the end result will still be higher gasoline prices.

Some analysts, taking into account the effects of both Hurricanes Ike and the previous Gustav are suggesting retail prices near $4 a gallon through the rest of September and likely into mid-October. In the absence of the storms, gasoline would have averaged closer to the $3 per gallon mark.

On Monday the average price per gallon across the country held steady at $3.6863 according to a Lundberg survey, with sharp spikes in specific hurricane-affected areas.

The resulting inequities have led to a 51 cent per gallon increase over three weeks in Little Rock, Arkansas whereas Los Angeles, the nation's largest market for gasoline, saw a 19 cent drop over the same period. More evenly dispersed price changes are expected in the coming week.

For Monday September 12, the least expensive fuel was to be found in Newark, New Jersey at $3.37 a gallon with the most expensive in Honolulu, Hawaii at $4.21.