TORRANCE, CA – Oil and gas prices are on the rise, caused by fears of supply disruption due to unrest in the Middle East.

Nationalgasaverage.com, which reports average and regional gasoline prices, listed $3.317 as the nationwide average, with the highest price in Hawaii at $3.793 and the lowest in Wyoming at $2.996. Triple A listed the national average at nearly the same price, at $3.29.

Recent announcements made by OPEC signal that other member nations (for example Saudi Arabia) will be able to make up the production loss caused by the civil strife in Libya, but OPEC hasn’t yet officially agreed to increase output yet.

OPEC’s price basket for the month of February, as of Feb. 25, stood at $99.38. In January it was $92.83. The daily basket was at $111.01 as of Feb. 24, a more than $10 increase over the price on Feb. 21, which was $100.59.

According to Oil Price Information Service (OPIS), oil prices between $100 and $110 a barrel lead to varying gas prices. Ranges include $3.194 per gallon when the price per barrel hit $100 this year, up to $3.68 per gallon when gas prices were at $110 per barrel in September 2008, at the high end.

On the low end, in Feb. 2008, when the price was at $100 per barrel, gas prices were at $3.03 per gallon. In April 2010, when gas prices were at $110 per barrel, the high was $3.36, significantly lower than $3.68.

Earlier this year Automotive Fleet's Editor Mike Antich wrote an article that discussed oil reaching $100 per barrel in 2011.

By Greg Basich