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NEW YORK (CNNM) - Motorists weary from paying near-record gas prices can expect a little relief at the pump, the government said Tuesday. But not much. The Energy Information Administration, in its monthly forecast for fuel prices, said it expects a gallon of regular gasolinetoaverage$2.71overthesummerdrivingseason,fromApriltoSeptember.Thats34cents higher than last years average and a 9-cent increase from EIAs own predictions a month ago. But its nearly 20 cents cheaper than where gasoline currently stands at $2.901, according to the motorist organization AAA, formerly known as the American Automobile Association. Jonathan Cogan, an EIA spokesman, said prices should drop as U.S. gasoline stocks, hurt by refinery shut-downs and problems switching blends, build. We think prices will peak earlier in the season, he said. Perhaps we have seen a turning point. However, Cogan said the EIAs estimates dont factor in the effect of any hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, home to one quarter of all U.S. oil production and much of its refining capacity. Gas prices reached their all-time non-inflation-adjusted high of $3.06 a gallon last September after Hurricane Katrina knocked out most production and about half the refineries along the Gulf Coast. Experts are predicting another active season in 2006. EIAalsoraiseditspredictedpriceforcrudeoilto$68for2006and2007.Itspreviousestimate last month was for crude to average $65 a barrel in 2006 and $61 in 2007. It blamed the increase on oil producers inability to keep up with rising worldwide demand and geopolitics causing supply disruptions. Crude is currently trading around $71 a barrel. Although gasoline prices have surged -- up 33 percent since last year and 9 percent in the last month -- they have started to level off in recent weeks. Over the last two weeks, the average price of gasoline climbed less than 4 cents and actually dropped in 26 cities, according to the Lundberg Survey. That com