NEW YORK, — It seems that the weather forecast continues to have an immense impact on the price of fuel. A day after the average US retail diesel price fell 12 cents gallon, concerns that Hurricane Rita could devastate oil refineries in Texas pushed crude oil over $1 a barrel today.

This week’s earlier decline follows steady drops in crude oil since it hit all all-time high Aug 30 after Hurricane Katrina smashed against the Gulf Coast. The cost of distillates — of which diesel is a category — is expected to go back up if Rita makes contact with the Texas coast. The state accounts for 25 percent of total US oil production.

An offer by OPEC to make available an extra 2 million barrels of oil a day did not seem to quell the market.

Prices could rise further today when the US Department of Energy releases its petroleum inventories snapshot, which could show declining crude and distillate stocks as a result of Katrina.

Furthermore, Rita can take a turn to north where it can collide with Louisiana and Mississippi once again.

— with files from Associated Press