The good news: Supplies will be adequate.

The scary news: A strong hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico could knock out refineries and quickly send pump prices soaring.

"We are one major incident away from a 1970s-style gasoline crisis," Paul Sankey, an oil analyst, warned the Senate Energy Committee yesterday.

Because of insufficient refining capacity, the United States has enough gasoline inventory to last only 20 days, he said. That leaves the U.S. industry vulnerable to storms, accidents, equipment failures and foreign supply disruptions.

"Be prepared to take emergency measures" such as tossing out environmental rules and drawing down strategic reserves, Sankey urged Congress.

His warning came as Congress considers how it might restrain gasoline prices and ensure adequate supplies throughout the summer driving season, which begins Memorial Day.

Lawmakers asked experts for assessments of prices and supplies but did not hear many encouraging words about how they could help in the short term.

Unplanned refinery shutdowns have been pushing gasoline prices to record highs this spring. The average national price of a gallon of gas hit $3.073 this week; the previous record of $3.057 was set in September 2005, shortly after Hurricane Katrina, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.

Guy Caruso, who leads the federal Energy Information Administration, told the committee that a regular gallon will average $2.95 this summer, compared with last summer's $2.84.

Sankey, an analyst at Deutsche Bank Securities in New York, said Americans consume 22 million barrels of oil a day, while the domestic industry has the capacity to refine only 17 million barrels. The daily shortfall is made up with imports. No new refinery has been built in this country since the 1970s.

Although U.S. refiners "are all rushing to add capacity," they are hampered by a lack of engineering and construction staff and equipment, he said. When it comes to building a refinery, "it's easier said than done," he said.

Senators asked why oil companies didn't start increasing refining capacity sooner, especially given their enormous profits.

Sankey said refiners were losing money as recently as 2002 and are still having trouble convincing investors that new facilities would be profitable over time.

In the House, scores of co-sponsors are pushing for passage of the Federal Price Gouging Prevention Act, which would make it illegal for oil companies to charge "unconscionably excessive" prices.

Separately yesterday, reporters asked White House spokesman Tony Snow whether the administration is considering tapping into the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve. "Not that I'm aware of," he said.

Later, asked about President Bush's plans to address rising energy prices, Snow suggested the Democratic-led Congress initiate action.

"The president's talked about nuclear power," Snow said, but "a lot of people say, 'We don't want nukes. We don't want new refineries. We don't want ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge drilling). We want more energy.'

"OK, well, we're all ears," he said.