After hitting a new record high and peaking on Aug. 21, Los Angeles gasoline prices began trending downward, signaling the end of the summer driving season. But production problems on Wednesday at two major Bay Area refineries caused prices to edge back up in L.A. and its surrounding areas once again, said the Automobile Club of Southern California. The production problems could send prices back to record levels within a week.

The average price for regular self-serve unleaded gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area rose 0.2 cents to $2.794 on Friday from $2.792 the week before. Prices reached a record high of $2.805 on Sunday and fell gradually throughout the week until the midweek refinery snag. The price was $2.572 per gallon one month ago and $2.063 one year ago.

“Shell and Tesoro refineries in Martinez, experienced major problems this week and production is expected to be interrupted for several more days, at least,” Auto Club spokeswoman Carol Thorp said. “When combined with concerns about hurricanes affecting Gulf of Mexico oil production, motorists could experience new record-high prices for gasoline as early as next week if supply to our region is reduced.”

The Orange County area, which reached a record high on Aug. 22, had the lowest average price in Southern California and was the only area of those surveyed whose per-gallon price didn’t rise after the refinery problems, losing 0.5 cents to $2.774. The Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc area had the highest gas price, rising 1.5 cents to $2.886.

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