Gasoline prices up about 12 cents

Gasoline prices have bounced up a bit on news that refiners may shut units. (Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff)

In the three weeks ended Friday, the average price of regular gasoline at US filling stations rose 12 cents, or 7.2 percent, to $1.78 a gallon on speculation refinery maintenance may reduce stockpiles, according to oil analyst Trilby Lundberg's survey of 7,000 filling stations.

"This is simply a bounce after hitting bottom finally and it reflects a slight change in our demand behavior," Lundberg said. "Demand at these much lower prices is not down as much as it was in the fall, although it is still down."

Gasoline use was down 3.4 percent from a year earlier in the week ended Jan. 2, according to the Energy Department.

Motorists bought an average 8.97 million barrels of gasoline a day in the week ended Jan. 2, down from 9.299 million a year earlier and the lowest since early November, MasterCard said in its weekly SpendingPulse report.

The highest average price for self-serve regular gasoline was $2.32 a gallon in Anchorage, Alaska, Lundberg said. The lowest was in Billings, Mont., at $1.34 a gallon.