Oct. 29--Because Stephanie Patcella, Frackville, uses her car each day to attend classes at McCann School of Business and Technology, Pottsville, she has to keep the gas flowing -- but she doesn't have to be happy about the rising gas prices.

"I'm pretty much disgusted with it, but what can I do about it," Patcella said Tuesday. "I have to drive to school."

On Wednesday, gas prices ranged from $2.69 to $2.75 a gallon at several gas stations in Schuylkill County.

The average price for regular unleaded gasoline in the state is $2.72 and $2.68 across the country.

Last week, the state and national average was $2.61; a month ago, $2.47 was the state average and $2.49 the national average; one year ago, it was a $2.66 state average and $2.57 national average, according to PennsylvaniaGasPrices.com, a Web site designed to compare gas prices across the state.

Gas prices usually fall after Labor Day, but that isn't the case this year, according to Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for gasbuddy.com, a company based in Grand Rapids, Mich., that runs 178 local Web sites that allow people to check daily gas prices and post prices in their area.

"Typically the demand goes down after summer vacations are over. There is less demand, driving prices down," DeHaan said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "This year it seems the opposite is true. There have been reports concerning demand rising as well as a reduction in gas stockpiles according to the (U.S.) Department of Energy. Also some refineries are undergoing maintenance, decreasing the supply of gas. Add that to the economic factors like the week U.S. dollar and we see the price of gas rising."

"Our customers are telling us they are concerned," Nancy Sangha, a sales associate at the Getty station in Saint Clair said Tuesday. "We check prices every day and do comparative shopping, matching with our competitors in the neighborhood."

Lorrie Hecker, Hess Corp. director of communication-marketing and refining, agrees with Sangha.

"A variety of factors determine how we price in a market, including prices at other stations in the immediate area, taxes and other economic factors," Hecker said in an e-mail.

Sangha said the price of oil is also a factor in the gas price fluctuation.

According to useconomy.about.com, crude oil accounts for 55 percent of the price of gasoline, while distribution and taxes influence the remaining 45 percent.

Oil prices fluctuate almost daily, depending on what investors think the price of oil will be in the future. Experts look at projected supply and demand to determine the price.