The average price of gasoline at the pumps has been steadily climbing for the past five

weeks, a survey conducted by Trilby Lundberg has shown.

In the latest survey, which covers the two weeks ending on January 20, the average price of gas went up by an average of 3.48 cents, reaching the price of $3.3944 per gallon. The survey polled 2,500 gasoline stations located throughout the continental United States.

This is considered a modest increase, especially compared to the huge jump the price of gas took during the prior three week period ending on January 6. During those 21 days gas prices shot up by 12 cents per gallon.

Part of the reason for the increases is higher prices for crude oil. The price surge can also be attributed to crisis developing in Iran and Nigeria which has put pressure on the supply of crude oil. However, there has been a slowing of demand for oil coming from Europe due to their debt crisis, so it is hard to say whether or not prices will continue to climb, hold steady, or even drop.

Last week’s slight rise in crude oil prices leads Lundberg to say that gas prices could easily continue to increase, perhaps by another 5 cents, at least in the short term.

The survey showed that, among the cities taking part in the survey, Salt Lake City, Utah, had the lowest gas prices on average, of about $2.94 per gallon; Los Angeles had the highest price of $3.71 per gallon.