OIL'S NOT WELL: COST OF GETTING AROUND IS ACCELERATING AGAIN GAS PRICES HAVE DRIVERS BELLYACHING.

Byline: JULIA M. SCOTT

Staff Writer

Gasoline prices have started their spring ascent, jumping back to about $3 a gallon, and could set a California record by the summer driving season, analysts said Wednesday.

That means last year's record of $3.40 for a gallon of regular could be surpassed, predicted Mary Welge, an analyst at Oil Price Information Service.

"It's not out of the realm of possibility," Welge said. She is predicting an increase of 10 cents to 30cents a gallon statewide.

Wednesday's average for a gallon of regular in the Los Angeles/Long Beach area was $2.92, up 13.2 percent from the $2.58 of a year ago, according to data from the Auto Club of Southern California.

But regular gas is already above $3 a gallon in many areas of Los Angeles, including the San Fernando Valley.

Balaji Vemuma paid $3.05 a gallon to gas up his Toyota Camry at a Woodland Hills Chevron with regular and he was not happy about the tab.

"They do bother me," Vemuma, 28, of Woodland Hills said of the rising prices, "but I don't have any alternative." He needed to get to work.

Prices typically increase this time of year because of a variety of factors, experts said.

In February, gas stations switched to a more-expensive summer blend of fuel.

And scheduled and unplanned maintenance at refineries that make gasoline up to California standards curtailed supply.

The raw material is getting pricier, too.

On Wednesday, wholesale oil prices increased by more than $1 per barrel after the U.S. government reported an unexpected drop in crude inventories.

Crude oil stockpiles dropped by 4.8 million barrels last week, to 324.2 million barrels, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported.

"We're seeing a very tight supply situation," said Susanne Garfield, a spokeswoman at the California Energy Commission, which monitors the supply of petroleum products.

Of 14 refineries in the state that make California gasoline, a half dozen had planned downtime, Garfield said. Some of those had problems restarting production, forcing them to draw further on reserves or buy from wholesalers.

Relief might not come for weeks, if past years are any indication. Gasoline prices, which have been creeping up about 2cents a day for the past four weeks as part of their usual early spring spike, often peak in May, Auto Club spokeswoman Marie Montgomery said.

Prices then slack off until mid-August, when they frequently start rising again, according to Auto Club data. A second peak often comes in October or November.

The double-humped-camel pattern has happened in years past, but not the most recent summer, when prices hovered just under the peak.

"It's like a mountain range that's steeper on one end and then it doesn't come down as far," Montgomery said.

Prices are high enough that customers are shopping around, said Raman Wason, manager of the Chevron station on Ventura Boulevard and Shoup Avenue in Woodland Hills.

"They don't just buy for convenience," he said. "People are conscious. We don't blame them."

The gas needy have two other choices at the busy intersection where Vemuma fueled up. Regular at a Shell station cost $3.09 a gallon and at a Thrifty, which appeared temporarily closed, a gallon cost $2.99.

Jerry White did not like the price spike, either. White, 66, was heading back to his home in Las Vegas after visiting a doctor in Woodland Hills, where he used to live. He spent $50.69 for 16 gallons of medium octane to fill his Volkswagen EuroVan.

"I was shocked," White said of the prices. "When I filled up in Vegas, I paid $2.45 or $2.47."

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CAPTION(S):

2 photos, chart

Photo:

(1 -- color) Emilio Magliozzi of Encino fills up his car with gasoline costing more than $3 per gallon at an Encino station.

(2) Gasoline is more than $3 per gallon at an Encino station Wednesday. Gas stations switch to a more expensive blend of fuel in February.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer

Chart:

Pain at the pump