SAN FRANCISCO — California has overtaken Hawai'i as the state with the highest gasoline prices.

A gallon of unleaded regular sold for $3.40 in California yesterday, compared with $3.32 in Hawai'i, according to the Washington-based Energy Information Administration. The national average is $3.11.

California also is home to two cities — San Francisco and Los Angeles — with the highest gas prices for metropolitan areas nationwide.

San Francisco averaged $3.47 per gallon for regular unleaded gasoline, up 14 cents from a week ago, and Los Angeles recorded an average of $3.32 a gallon.

"There's nothing to do about it," said Eve Elbeze, as she filled up her Volvo sedan at a Chevron station in San Francisco, where regular unleaded was $3.60 a gallon. "I've got two kids — I certainly can't bike everywhere with two kids on the handle bars."

At a Shell station in San Mateo, about 20 miles south of San Francisco, prices started at $4.15 per gallon. The station was empty for long stretches Wednesday morning, and a salesman said he had no say in determining prices.

Prices rose Wednesday after OPEC Secretary General Abdalla Salem el-Badri said there is no need for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to add more oil to the market, according to Dow Jones News-wires.

California drivers expressed concern that prices would remain high through the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas travel seasons.

Merry Clark spent $31.50 to fill up her Ford Focus, which she bought specifically because of its fuel efficiency. The Redding resident said she had already consolidated errands into a single weekly schlep to save fuel, and she is planning to stay put for the holidays.