As Hurricane Rita roars through the Gulf of Mexico, analysts across the country are speculating what a direct hit to oil producing regions in Texas and Louisiana might do to crude oil and fuel prices.

As of Thursday afternoon, diesel was holding steady. According to ProMiles, the national average price for diesel Thursday, Sept. 22, was $2.78 per gallon, up nearly two cents from the day before.

ProMiles reported overnight jumps in some areas of as much as five cents per gallon, though a few areas actually reported drops in prices.

The volatile oil market, however, is another story. Prices for light, sweet crude oil shot above $68 per barrel in midday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange before settling back down around the $66 level.

The Kansas City Star reported that Texas has 26 refineries with the capacity to process 4.6 million barrels of oil per day. Ten of those refineries are in the Houston area, while four are in Corpus Christi.

In addition, everything from offshore oil rigs to storage tanks and pipelines is in the path of the storm, and what will happen to the price of oil and fuel depends on just how much damage that storm will do.

One analyst told CNN that – in a worst-case scenario – gasoline prices could easily top $4 per gallon and perhaps even make it to $5 before all is said and done.

Oil companies are bracing for the worst. The federal Minerals Management Service reported that oil and gas production in the Gulf was rapidly closing down as crews evacuated oil rigs and refineries.

The service said that nearly 74 percent of the oil platforms and 64 percent of the oil rigs operating in the Gulf of Mexico had been evacuated as of Thursday. In addition, nearly 92 percent of daily oil production in the gulf has been temporarily shut down.

Other land-based refineries in and around Houston were also being shut down and evacuated.