Regular gasoline prices soared yesterday by as much as 47 cents a gallon, or about 15 percent, at some gasoline stations in Honolulu as the state's cap on wholesale gasoline prices entered its third week.

The caps, which link Hawai'i prices to Mainland prices on a lagging basis, allowed gasoline wholesalers statewide to raise prices 44 cents a gallon yesterday. That resulted in an overnight spike in street prices to about $3.699 in some locations on O'ahu.

"It's ridiculous," said Kaimana LeBlanc of Niu Valley as he pumped $3.659-a-gallon regular into a black pickup truck at Kahala Shell yesterday. That was 47 cents per gallon higher than the station's Sunday price.

"When I saw that price, I was like 'wow,' " LeBlanc said.

However, relief could be coming as soon as next week when the Public Utilities Commission makes its weekly adjustment to the wholesale price cap.

The jump in Hawai'i gasoline prices this week largely reflects a spike in Mainland wholesale gasoline prices between Aug. 30 and Sept. 6 caused by supply disruptions from Hurricane Katrina. The price cap is based on three Mainland wholesale prices over a five-day period about a week before.

The Public Utilities Commission, which administers the caps, said prices could begin to fall next week when adjustments made to the price cap reflect this week's drop in Mainland prices.

The maximum wholesale price for regular on O'ahu rose to $3.50 a gallon this week from $3.04 a gallon, including taxes. Hawai'i's gas cap, the only one in the nation, limits what wholesalers can charge, but not retailers. Gas stations typically add about 12 cents to the wholesale price.

A pump price of $3.699 in Honolulu is about 70 cents higher than the average nationwide price. It's also more than twice the average 33-cent-a-gallon difference between Honolulu and national prices from January 2004 through July 2005, according to AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report data.

Still, the gap between gas prices in Hawai'i and the Mainland had been narrowing in the months leading up to the gasoline cap, and even during the first weeks the cap was in effect, according to AAA. The gap had narrowed to 24 cents on Friday.

Democratic lawmakers who created the nation's only gasoline price cap law blamed Hawai'i's oil companies, including Chevron Corp., for taking advantage of high Mainland prices following Hurricane Katrina. Chevron said the spike in prices shows the law is flawed.

Gov. Linda Lingle said she planned to meet yesterday with the state's consumer advocate, John Cole, to discuss the gasoline cap, but was not ready to suspend the law. Lingle has the power to suspend the price cap, but has said she would only do so if the law has an adverse impact on the economy, public health, or the welfare and safety of the state.

Lingle said yesterday that even if she were to suspend the cap now there is no guarantee that prices would go down, because refineries would be uncertain about how the state Legislature might respond next session.

Despite yesterday's jump in pump prices, the caps should be given a chance to work, said House Majority Leader Marcus Oshiro, D-39th (Wahiawa). Price cap proponents maintain that the caps will lead ultimately to lower gasoline prices as Hawai'i's prices more closely track price changes on the Mainland.

"Be patient, lower prices should show up at the pump next week," Oshiro said. "I'm disappointed the price at the pump isn't lower. I expected the oil companies to not take advantage of the situation."

The caps don't require wholesalers to price at the maximum allowed, but oil industry analysts said it is likely they are doing so to offset times when they are forced to lower prices.

"If the price is driven down by the cap and our costs haven't gone down as much, we're going to get crunched," said Albert Chee, of Chevron, one of two refiners that operate in Hawai'i.

Officials for Hawai'i's second refiner, Tesoro Petroleum Corp., were unavailable for comment yesterday. However, Chee said this week's spike in prices shows that Hawai'i prices should not be set based on Mainland prices. Critics of the caps maintain they will lead to higher prices and possible supply shortages.

Before the gasoline cap, prices in Hawai'i were more closely tied to markets that provide crude oil and gasoline to the Islands, including Asia and Alaska.

Although there haven't been widespread supply problems, last week the Public Utilities Commission outlined possible interruptions related to the cap in letters to Lingle and state House and Senate leaders: