As oil prices cracked the $100-per-barrel barrier this week, gasoline prices zoomed higher, too: Triangle stations sold regular gas Friday for an average $3.136 a gallon -- up 17 cents in the past week.

HOW BAD THAT IS:

It's more than double what we paid at the pump in January 2004, when the price of regular zoomed past $1.50 -- and never looked back.

It's within a nickel of the Triangle's record-breaking price spike of $3.184 in September 2005, when Hurricane Katrina shut down many of the nation's oil refineries.

It's the most we've paid for gas since May 2007, when local prices reached $3.157.

WHAT RALEIGH RESIDENT DWIGHT YOUNG DOES TO REDUCE HIS FUEL COSTS:

"Half the month, I catch the bus to work," says Young, 41, who works as a spot welder. "It's only a dollar a day to catch the bus. I just get picked up. I try to cut down running back and forth in the car."

HOW MUCH MICHAEL MURRAY, AN N.C. STATE UNIVERSITY STUDENT, SPENDS ON GAS:

"It's a little steep, yeah. In a month, it's anywhere from $700 to $1,000 or so on my Exxon bill alone," says Murray, 19, who commutes from Greensboro in a Chevy Tahoe.

"I go through like, 2 1/2 tanks a week. "

WHAT'S GOING ON:

There's plenty of disagreement among industry and government experts.

Normal supply-and-demand forces seemed out of kilter this week: When oil prices hit a record $101, gasoline supplies were at their highest levels in 14 years.

The Turkish military push into northern Iraq could disrupt Iraqi oil shipments, some analysts said, but oil and gasoline futures fell Friday.

WHAT'S IN STORE:

The U.S. Energy Department expects gas prices to peak this spring near $3.40 a gallon, according to the Associated Press.

Some analysts say prices could reach as high as $4 by summer.

WHERE TO FIND THE TRIANGLE'S CHEAPEST GAS:

It varies. You can't count on any one station to offer the best price consistently.

Triangle drivers frequently find the cheapest gas at a string of stations on South Saunders Street. But not always. Prices for regular at these stations were posted Friday around $3.139 -- a fraction above the Triangle average.

Bargain hunters saved 4 to 8 cents a gallon Friday by pumping their gas in other neighborhoods from Chapel Hill to Garner.

Roving volunteers post high and low prices on Web sites such as gasbuddy.com. But with the market as volatile as it has been this week -- some stations added as much as 14 cents to the price Thursday alone -- the Web site postings can quickly go out of date.

WHAT HAL BROWN, A CARY CABINET BUILDER, WOULD LIKE TO SEE:

"I think the big issue is for our politicians to bite the bullet and come up with economical, fuel-efficient vehicles. I think they've got to mandate that," said Brown, 65, whose Ford pickup gets about 16 miles per gallon.

"I'm a Republican, and I'm totally against government control of business. But something's got to be done."