Gasoline prices jumped Tuesday to as high as $3.45 per gallon in some parts of Ashtabula County.

That’s higher than the national average of $3.22 per gallon Tuesday, fueled by the near-record price of $109 per barrel of oil, AAA East Central director of communications Bevi Powell said from Pittsburgh.

’Oil prices are definitely the culprit here,’ Powell said. ’Last year at this time, oil was at $70 per barrel, and gas prices were at least 70 cents cheaper at the pump than they are today.’

The Circle K in Kingsville and the Shell station at Mill Street and Route 20 in Conneaut both listed regular gasoline at $3.45 per gallon Tuesday, while the Flying J at the Interstate 90 interchange in Austinburg Township listed regular gas at $3.19.

Powell said the trend isn’t exclusive to Ashtabula County or even Ohio.

’This is a national trend,’ Powell said. ’These increases are across the board.’

AAA tracks oil and gasoline prices through its Oil Price Information Service, which provides online consumer information and a price guide to direct drivers to the cheapest gas stations.

Powell said the winter months usually bring lower gas prices because drivers travel less. Because gasoline demand is about the same as it was last year, Powell said the old supply-and-demand story doesn’t apply to this price spike.

Powell said worldwide commodities price increases and the dollar’s weakness vis-’-vis other currencies are setting gasoline prices on fire.

’Oil prices are going up as investors continue to put their money in commodities,’ Powell said.

Commodities are anything for which there is a demand. The market becomes unstable when one commodity, like oil, is traded at a far higher rate than other commodities.

The record price of crude oil is propelling gas prices higher, although supplies remain at 15-year highs. On Tuesday, light sweet crude for April delivery surged to a new trading record of $109.72 on the New York Mercantile Exchange before retreating after the U.S. Energy Department and the Paris-based International Energy Agency cut crude consumption forecasts for this year. Futures settled at $108.75 a barrel, a new record, the Associated Press reports.

Powell said there is no end in sight to at-the-pump increases.

’It certainly isn’t a good situation, and no one can predict how high these prices will go. All the consumer can do is be smart in their choices of vehicle and try to combine trips to the store and cut down on their personal fuel consumption,’ she said.

Many analysts expect prices to moderate, while others predict oil could keep rising to $120 a barrel, or higher. With demand for gasoline expected to rise as warm weather arrives, analysts say pump prices could spike as high as $3.75 a gallon, regardless of what happens with oil prices. The Energy Department on Tuesday raised its forecast of how high prices will rise this spring by a dime, to $3.50 a gallon, the Associated Press reports.