The American Automobile Association says while damage assessments are not yet complete and some power outages are still being reported, the worst worries in Hurricane Ike’s impact on U.S. fuel supplies and prices may be over.

Dave Carlson with AAA Idaho says after spiking about 18 cents per gallon late last week, gasoline prices appear to be stabilizing.

AAA-Idaho’s Dave Carlson comments

The brunt of the price increases since last Friday have occurred in a swath of states served by Gulf Coast refineries in the south and southeast.  However, the northwest seems to have weathered the price surge better than those regions served by distribution centers affected by the storm.

Carlson continues

An initial damage assessment of Gulf oil rigs indicates the loss of only 10 units out of approximately 4,000.  Also helping to ease supply concerns is the expected arrival of an unusually large number of ships transporting gasoline from Europe to the U.S., along with the installation of generators to several pumping stations that feed fuel through the Colonial pipeline from Texas to points throughout the southeast region.