Gasoline prices in the United States have topped three dollars a gallon, the highest level in nearly a year, a leading automobile association said Friday.
The Automobile Association of America said the average price at the pump was 3.012 dollars Friday.
The breach of the symbolic three-dollar threshold came just weeks ahead of the start of the US summer holiday driving season.
Gasoline prices have surged higher in recent weeks, rising as much as 15 percent in April in the New York market, amid refinery breakdowns and maintenance work that has hampered gasoline production in the United States.
US gasoline reserves have fallen for 12 straight weeks, dropping by 34.1 million barrels, or 15 percent, since early February.
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In the latest Department of Energy (DoE) report, gasoline reserves stood at 193.1 million barrels in the week ended April 27, their lowest level since October 2005, after the hurricanes Katrina and Rita had ripped through oil installations in the Gulf.
The last time the average gasoline price topped the three-dollar bar was in July 2006. The previous record high, according to the DoE, was set September 5, 2006 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when a gallon cost 3.07 dollars.
In inflation-adjusted terms, current gasoline prices are easier on the consumer than the average monthly price of some 3.20 dollars in 1981, according to DoE data.
Drivers in the United States still have it easier on the wallet than those in other parts of the world where gasoline is pricier, mainly due to higher fuel taxes.
