US drivers face higher prices for new fuel.

US drivers could face a shortage of petrol and significantly higher prices at the pumps because of problems phasing in environmentally friendlier petrol this spring. The US Department of Energy issued the warning as industry executives and analysts are forecasting that prices at petrol pumps could rise as much as 30 per cent to $3 (?2.5, ?1.7) a gallon ? close to the records achieved after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf coast last summer.