PORTLAND (AP) - Gasoline prices are staying above the psychological barrier of $3 a gallon for regular across much of Oregon and may-or may not-stay there for the near future, specialists say.

Oregon/Idaho AAA spokesman Elliott Eki said this week that prices won't drop any time soon but another analyst said he doubts the high prices can be sustained.

The $3 price had been expected, but not before the Memorial Day weekend.

“We're sort of early for the traditional beginning of the high season,” Eki said. “The idea has to be when you go, be smart about it. Were in a place now where the demand is putting such upward pressure on gas prices, that you'd be crazy not to find ways to conserve.”

Most of the gas used in Oregon is piped or trucked from refineries in Canada and Washington state.

Industry experts say one reason for high prices is that two of the largest refineries in western Canada were down for maintenance. One is back up and the other should be soon.

And refineries are in the midst of switching to their more expensive summer blends of gasoline that burn more efficiently.

“Those two factors are to blame for all this,” said Denton Cinquegrana, the West Coast spot markets editor of the New Jersey-based Oil Price Information Service.

He predicted the high prices cannot be sustained.

“Its a big wakeup call for a lot of people,” Cinquegrana said, cautioning that if drivers don't take conservation seriously, prices will continue to rise.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski and Attorney General Hardy Myers announced the creation of a web site Thursday for motorists to report evidence that might suggest unlawful pricing practices.