It didn’t take long for Colorado Springs gas prices to blow past the $4 mark after they set a record this week.

Local motorists paid pump prices that averaged $4.099 for a gallon of regular unleaded Friday, only a few days after the average had reached a highest ever $3.987 per gallon, according to AAA, the nationwide travel service.

Friday’s price actually dipped about a penny from $4.108 on Thursday, which now stands as the Springs’ record high for a gallon of gas, AAA figures show.

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Even so, several service stations, convenience stores and other outlets around Colorado Springs sold gas Friday for as high as $4.19 for a gallon of regular unleaded, according to figures compiled by GasBuddy.com, the online service that tracks prices nationwide.

Whatever motorists pay now, they can expect to pay more over the next several weeks and months.

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An AAA Colorado spokesman told The Gazette this week that fuel prices are expected to climb throughout 2022, especially in the summer when tourists and vacationers hit the road and drive up demand.

Gas prices hit record high in Colorado Springs

Gas prices have spiraled to records highs, in large part, because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a tight supply of oil and a strong demand for fuel by employees who’ve resumed job commutes and tourists who are traveling again in the wake of improved COVID-19 numbers, the spokesman said.

Elsewhere on Friday, AAA figures showed:

• Denver’s per gallon average was $4.054, down a penny from a record of $4.064 on Thursday.

• Pueblo motorists paid $4.208, the highest ever for them.

• Durango had the state’s highest average gas price of $4.552 among 10 cities and metro areas tracked by AAA; that figure was down from Durango’s record of $4.554 on Tuesday.

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• Greeley’s average of $4.043 was the lowest among the 10 cities and metro areas and still about 4 cents below that city’s record high average of $4.085 set in July 2008.

• Colorado’s statewide average of $4.119 was slightly under the record $4.124 set Thursday.

• Nationwide, prices averaged $4.432 on Friday, another record high.