Retail gasoline prices started to climb yesterday in the Richmond area and are likely to shoot above $4 a gallon this weekend, thanks to Hurricane Ike.

The storm's threat to key oil refineries on the Gulf Coast sent wholesale gasoline prices soaring Thursday and yesterday. It forced the closing of the Texas terminal of a major pipeline that supplies gasoline and other fuels to mid-Atlantic states and the Northeast.

In the Richmond area, prices at the pump varied widely, as some retailers were still selling cheaper inventory while others responded to rising wholesale costs by increasing their pump prices.

"We are just reacting to what we are being charged through our dealer," said Chan Rowland, manager of a Goochland County station where the price shot to $4.09 yesterday, from $3.69 Thursday. "Hopefully, this [hurricane] will go on through and things will go back to normal."

Yesterday evening, the Web site gasbuddy.com, which relies on consumer reports, listed prices at area stations from $3.34 to $4.09.

Prices at $4 or more could be the norm this weekend and could go much higher the longer Hurricane Ike halts petroleum production.

"Four-dollar gasoline is here, and I certainly can't rule out that $5 gasoline is within sight," said John Zehler Jr., president of Mechanicsville-based petroleum dealer Virginia Fuels Inc. "How far we go from $4 to $5 is going to depend on how much damage we get."

Last night, the Environmental Protection Agency responded to a request from Virginia's Department of Environmental Quality for a gasoline waiver to prevent fuel shortages.

The EPA announced that it will temporarily waive some gasoline requirements in the Richmond area and elsewhere in Virginia.

The waiver, which will begin immediately and expire on Sept. 26, will allow certain areas to use conventional gasoline instead of reformulated gasoline that is normally required to control summer ozone levels in metro areas such as Richmond.

Details on the fuel waiver and answers to FAQs can be found at: www.epa.gov/compliance/civil/caa/fuelwaivers/.

"This would help to ease whatever supply crunch may or may not be coming," said Mike O'Connor, president of the Virginia Petroleum, Convenience and Grocery Association.

"What is happening is suppliers are putting in price increases to [retailers] to ration what is left" as oil refineries and pipelines have closed because of the hurricane, O'Connor said.

Drivers around the South rushed to fill their tanks yesterday as prices rose, and officials in some states tried to head off a run on gas by threatening to prosecute stations that gouge consumers. There were scattered reports of lines and stations running out of gas.

The Pantry convenience-store chain, which has 1,600 stations in 11 Southern states and operates in Virginia as Kangaroo Express, asked customers at about half of them to limit their purchases.

AAA urged consumers not to panic and to use restraint when buying gas this weekend.

"That panic buying could cause an unnecessary shortage that ordinarily would not have taken place," said Windy VanCuren, a spokeswoman for AAA Mid-Atlantic. "It's a self-fulfilling prophecy."

VanCuren also urged gas station owners not to raise prices out of fear of more costly shipments.

"The bottom line is it's important to remember not to do any panic raising of prices or panic buying of gasoline," VanCuren said. "There is plenty of supply on hand right now."