Gas prices in Los Angeles and much of Southern California stopped setting new daily records earlier in the week, but are unlikely to sharply decrease soon as the effects of Hurricane Katrina continue to be felt nationwide, said the Automobile Club of Southern California.

Production problems that surfaced in recent weeks at Shell and Tesoro refineries in Martinez, Calif. have reportedly been resolved, which should help put some downward pressure on local prices, say oil industry analysts. But because of hurricane-related gas supply issues in other parts of the country, no big price decreases are expected right away in California.

The average price for regular self-serve unleaded gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area rose 13.7 cents to $2.992 on Friday from $2.855 one week ago. Prices had reached a new record high of $2.999 on Tuesday, before retreating slightly. The price was $2.650 per gallon one month ago and $2.093 one year prior.

“As more refineries have resumed higher production levels, we’re seeing prices level off,” said Auto Club spokeswoman Carol Thorp. “However, it’s still too soon to say when and by how much prices will drop.”

The Orange County area had the lowest average price in Southern California, gaining 11.4 cents to $2.961. For the first time in months, the Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc area didn’t have the highest gas price. That honor went to the Bakersfield area, which rose a whopping 24.8 cents to $3.158. All of the areas surveyed except L.A.-Long Breach and Orange County had average prices above $3 a gallon on Friday.

The Weekend Gas Watch monitors the average price of gasoline as of 12:01 a.m. each Friday.