NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Gas prices rose for the fourth straight day as Hurricane Ike slammed the Texas Gulf Coast early Saturday morning.
According to a nationwide survey released by the AAA Saturday, the average price of regular unleaded gasoline edged up 5.8 cents to $3.73 a gallon, from $3.675 a day earlier.

AAA said the nearly 6-cent increase was the biggest one-day spike this year and the largest since shortly after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005. The price of gas rose by 14 cents and 16 cents on consecutive days in the aftermath of Katrina.

The national price increase was driven by sharp spikes in the Southeast, primarily the Carolinas, Tennessee and Kentucky, states which lie at the end of several Gulf pipelines. Generally, increases in other regions were fairly slight.

In Texas, where the storm made landfall early Saturday, the average price rose 5.4 cents to $3.60 a gallon.
In the two coastal areas affected most directly by the storm, Galveston and Houston, prices rose 3.6 cents and 4.8 cents to $3.525 and $3.544 respectively.

Analysts have expressed fears that gas prices could continue to rise in the next few days as as Hurricane Ike’s approach to the Texas Gulf Coast led to shutdown of oil drilling and refining in the region.
But the Department of Energy and other agencies will make sure consumers don’t get hurt by efforts to raise gas prices the wake of Hurricane Ike, President Bush said Saturday.