BOISE — Average retail gasoline prices in Idaho have risen 6.6 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $3.69 a gallon on Sunday. This compares with the national average that has increased 3 cents per gallon in the last week to $3.73 a gallon, according to gasoline price website www.idahogasprices.com.

    Furthermore, prices on Sunday were 4.7 cents per gallon higher than the same day one year ago and are 19.4 cents per gallon higher than a month ago. The national average has increased 23.3 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 11.8 cents per gallon higher than this day one year ago.

    "Well, for those that have noticed, the national average has perked up slightly in the last week as oil prices have advanced," said GasBuddy.com Senior Petroleum Analyst Patrick DeHaan in a news release. "While that may be notable, soon-to-be Hurricane Isaac will be the story this week. It's entirely within the realm of possibility that we see refinery outages, oil production losses, and gasoline supply issues ... essentially all the things you don't want to happen.”

    He went on to say: “While this storm doesn't currently appear as powerful as other storms that have caused similar concern, we're continuing to watch the situation develop. One thing is for sure, I'm concerned that this storm will temporarily drive prices higher in the short term."

    GasBuddy operates the website www.idahogasprices.com and over 250 similar websites that track gasoline prices at over 140,000 gasoline stations in the United States and Canada.