Gas prices in the Los Angeles area rose for the sixth straight week on Friday, with all factors indicating a $3-per-gallon average in the Southland could be reached within a couple of weeks, said the Automobile Club of Southern California.

The average price for regular self-serve unleaded gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area leaped 7.2 cents to $2.914 on Friday. Last Friday, they jumped 9.1 cents to $2.842. The price was $2.610 per gallon one month ago and $2.623 one year prior. Prices haven’t hit a new record high since Sept. 6, when they reached $2.999.

“Wholesale prices have been rising and retail prices won’t catch up for two to three weeks,” said Auto Club spokesperson Carol Thorp. “Nationally, production is down and demand is up compared to last year. In addition, many regions of the country are having trouble getting sufficient supplies of ethanol, which is used in new formulas for gas. Uncertainty about supply has lifted gasoline to near-record prices on the spot market, and that filters down to the neighborhood gas pump.”

The Orange County area had the lowest average price in Southern California, even with an 8.2-cent increase to $2.885. The Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc area had the highest gas price, rising 8.2 cents to break the $3 mark, at $3.006.

The Weekend Gas Watch monitors the average price of gasoline each Friday.