11:25 AM CST on Friday, January 13, 2006

Associated Press

Gasoline prices at Texas pumps continued to climb this week.

The average retail price of self-serve regular increased this week by 9 cents to $2.28 per gallon, according to the weekly AAA Texas gas price survey released Friday.

The costliest gas continued to be in Dallas, where the average price climbed 8 cents to $2.32. The cheapest remained in Corpus Christi at $2.22 per gallon, despite the state’s biggest increase of 11 cents.

Regular self-serve gas is retailing for an average of $2.34 per gallon nationwide, 9 cents more than last week.

Auto club spokeswoman Rose Rougeau said retail gasoline prices have now climbed 15 cents per gallon in the past two weeks in Texas.

“The increases can be traced to investor speculation leading to higher prices for both crude and wholesale gasoline,” she said in a statement released Friday. “With crude trading around $64 a barrel, it doesn’t appear likely gasoline will fall below $2 a gallon anytime soon.”