Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) -- The average price of regular gasoline at U.S. filling stations rose to $2.66 a gallon as futures prices for crude oil and the motor fuel increased.

Gasoline gained 17.82 cents in the two weeks ended Oct. 23, according to a survey ending on the same day of 5,000 filling stations nationwide by Trilby Lundberg, an independent gasoline analyst in Camarillo, California. It was the first increase in survey prices in two months, Lundberg said today in an interview.

“This is entirely due to higher crude oil prices,” Lundberg said in an interview today. “Profit margins shrank for refiners especially, and for gasoline retailers.”

Crude for December delivery rose 11 percent in the two weeks ended Oct. 23. During that period, gasoline for November delivery jumped 16 percent.

Futures have increased because the U.S. dollar has weakened against the euro, increasing the investment appeal of commodities. Supplies are ample. Stockpiles of gasoline were 3.3 percent above the five-year average in the week ended Oct. 16, according to the Energy Department.

Regular gasoline at the pump, averaged nationwide, was $2.665 a gallon, AAA, the biggest U.S. motoring organization, said today on its Web site.

Gasoline demand, based on what blenders and refiners supply to the wholesale market, fell 3.3 percent from the prior week to an average 8.95 million barrels a day, the lowest in four weeks.

On Long Island, regular gasoline averaged $2.79 a gallon, Lundberg said. Los Angeles-area retail stations averaged $2.98.

The highest price among cities surveyed was $3.25 a gallon in Anchorage, Alaska. The cheapest place to buy gasoline was Tucson, Arizona, where a gallon averaged $2.24, Lundberg said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Barbara J. Powell in Dallas at bpowell4@bloomberg.net; Jim Polson in New York at jpolson@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 25, 2009 14:56 EDT