Richmond pump prices for regular gasoline are primed to jump as much as 35 cents a gallon this weekend, petroleum dealers say.

Gasoline selling for $4.25 per gallon by early next week is an easy bet, they say.

According to AAA Mid-Atlantic, the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline yesterday morning in Richmond was $3.89, down a penny.

An extraordinary price jump is expected after similar increases in the wholesale price of gasoline in the past two days.

"It's killing us; we're at our wit's end," said Dave McComas, president and chief executive officer of the Fas Mart Convenience Stores chain.

McComas said his stations' retail prices have not been able to keep up with the escalating wholesale price of fuel. "We're going to see wholesale costs at over $4 per gallon [this weekend]," he said.

Mechanicsville-based petroleum wholesaler John Zehler Jr. -- who last week predicted that $5 gasoline is not out of the question this summer -- agreed with McComas' price prediction.

Neither McComas nor Zehler believes the increases are justified by petroleum market fundamentals. They said U.S. gasoline consumption is off 4 percent to 6 percent and inventories are about average.

"This is just absolutely crazy," Zehler said yesterday as he watched the price of crude oil, diesel fuel and gasoline climb on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The futures price of crude oil closed yesterday on the Nymex at a record $138.54, up $10.75 a barrel; gasoline closed at $3.548 a gallon, up 21.35 cents; and diesel fuel and heating oil closed at $3.974, up 29.32 cents on the day. It marked the second day of sharp price increases, which have not yet been priced into the retail market.

"I think it's all speculation," McComas said even before crude jumped to $139.12 in after-hours trading. "There's nothing out there in the physical market causing this."

What concerns Zehler about the price volatility is what could happen to prices if something serious happens, such as a hurricane moving into the Gulf Coast, where most major refineries are located.

The dealers say they have not seen this kind of price volatility since the first Gulf War. Yesterday's crude oil gain -- more than 8 percent -- was the largest for a single day since December 1991.

Added to Thursday's $5.49 jump, the two-day gain was the biggest in the history of the New York Mercantile Exchange, The Associated Press reported.

Contact Greg Edwards at (804) 649-6390 or gedwards@timesdispatch.com.