U.S. gasoline prices rise to $2.66/gallon-survey

*Average price of U.S. gallon of gas $2.66-Lundberg

*Increase attributed to crude oil price rise

NEW YORK, July 25 (Reuters) - The average price drivers paid for a gallon of gasoline in the United States jumped 17.8 cents during the past two weeks due to an even larger relative increase in the price of crude oil, according to a survey by an industry analyst.

The national average for self-serve, regular unleaded gas was nearly $2.66 a gallon on Oct. 23, a gain of about 17.82 cents in the past two weeks, according to the nationwide Lundberg survey of about 7,000 gas stations.

The last time the price of gasoline jumped so much in a two-week time-frame was between July 24 and Aug. 7, when prices rose nearly 16 cents to $2.64, and then began multiple two-week periods of sliding back. Prices have fallen 12.3 cents in the past 12 months from $2.78 on Oct. 24, 2008.

"The rising gasoline price is mirrored in the rise in retail diesel," survey editor Trilby Lundberg said. "That's an example that shows it isn't only the gasoline market affected and that it is crude oil that caused the rise."

Crude oil prices rose more than gasoline and diesel on an equivalent basis, but refiners were unable to pass on all of their higher raw material costs because it is a time of weak gasoline demand and continued unemployment, she said.

"If crude oil prices slip significantly, from here we will see gasoline prices cease rising and maybe fall because gasoline demand itself will be falling with the seasonal changes in demand," Lundberg said.

At $2.24 a gallon, Tucson, Arizona, had the lowest average price for self-serve, regular unleaded gas, while the highest price was $3.25 a gallon in Anchorage, Alaska, on the survey date. San Francisco prices were the highest on the mainland United States at $3.06 a gallon. (Reporting by Caroline Humer, editing by Maureen Bavdek)