HONOLULU -- Gas stations around the islands started posting higher prices Monday, the first day refineries could raise their rates by 44 cents.

The Public Utilities Commission approved the hike last week as part of a gas-cap formula approved by the Legislature. The PUC sets the prices each Thursday for the following Monday.

The average for regular unleaded gasoline on Oahu was $3.137 Sunday. The price jumped 7 cents overnight. But, that price was low compared to the prices that were popping up around the island by midday.

The price for regular unleaded moved from $3.22 to $3.37 at the Tesoro gas station on Cooke and King streets. The price for a gallon was more than $3.40 in many other places. The price was $3.63 for a gallon of regular unleaded at the Chevron in Kahala.

Other reported prices:

Costco (Waipio) $3.09

Shell (Waipio) $3.67

7-Eleven (Waipio) $3.14

Chevron (Iwilei) $3.69

Chevron (Waialae) $3.69

Prices kept their climb on the neighbor islands where prices have been higher. A viewer on Maui said the price of regular unleaded was $3.98 at the Shell gas station in Lahaina.

Gas prices on Lanai have already hit $4.29. The wholesale increase could take the price up past $4.65.

There has been so much about rising gas prices in the news, drivers did not seem as shocked in the third week of the gas cap with prices soaring higher than ever before.

"It's inevitable. I wouldn't be surprised it went up another dollar or so just the way prices go now a days. Things are skyrocketing," Punchbowl resident Luana Hee said.

Costco usually has huge long lines. The two stores sold regular at $3.09 on Monday, 60 cents less a gallon that some other retailers.

Cars breezed in since many Costco customers filled their tanks Sunday to beat the week's anticipated price hikes.

When the PUC set the first gas cap on Sept. 1, the price for wholesale, regular unleaded gasoline was $2.1578 on Oahu. Prices have gone up about 78 cents since then.

Hawaii's new gas cap is based on wholesale averages in Los Angeles, New York and the hurricane-ravaged Gulf states. The law doesn't put a cap on retail prices.

Chevron increased the price of wholesale gas twice Monday. At first the company hiked prices 35 cents. A few hours later, Chevron moved prices up to the limit of 44 cents higher, according to sources.