Gasoline prices could rise another 11 cents a gallon next week.

The aftereffects of Hurricane Rita caused gas prices on the Mainland to climb over the past week, which will lead to a similar increase in Hawai'i prices under the state's month-old wholesale gas cap.

"I already catch TheBus," said James Kuroda, an artist in Nu'uanu. "But if prices keep rising, I'll start riding it more often."

State officials will announce today the new wholesale gasoline price cap to take effect Monday. Advertiser calculations point to an 11-cent rise in the cap to $2.68 a gallon for regular on O'ahu. When taxes and a 20-cent dealer markup are added, that could translate into pump prices as high as $3.51 a gallon.

Next week's rise comes on top of a 25 cents-per-gallon jump in this week's price cap.

The nation's only gasoline price cap was not designed to lower gasoline prices, according to proponents of the Democrat-created law, but to force local prices to track more closely Mainland prices.

Since the cap took effect onSept. 1, Hawai'i gasoline prices have been increasingly volatile, and the differences in prices between stations has become more pronounced. Drivers have responded by shopping around for cheaper prices and timing their purchases to get the best deals.

Hawai'i's price-cap law sets a maximum wholesale gasoline price based on wholesale prices in Los Angeles, the Gulf Coast and New York plus an adjustment for delivery and marketing costs.

The gas cap limits only wholesale prices, so stations are free to set retail prices wherever they want.

Reach Sean Hao at shao@honoluluadvertiser.com.