And this is why I'm buying an electric car soon.

Retail gas prices in the United States surged to a new record above US$3.30 a gallon Friday and appear poised to rise further in coming weeks as gasoline supplies tighten.

Oil prices, meanwhile, supported the gas price rally by jumping more than $2 a barrel after a dismal employment report sent the dollar lower.

At the pump, gas prices rose 1.4 cents overnight to an average of $3.303 a gallon in the United States, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. That's the latest in a series of records, and about 60 cents higher than a year ago.

While oil's surge above $100 over the last month has boosted gas prices so far this year, analysts now expect gas prices to continue rising regardless of what direction crude takes. The U.S. Energy Department expects prices to peak near $3.50 a gallon later in the spring, but many analysts predict the spike could approach $4.

That's because gasoline supplies are falling, in part because producers are cutting back on output of the fuel due to the high cost of crude - the more expensive crude is, the more refiners have to pay and the lower their profits are. They're also in the process of switching over from producing winter grades of gasoline to the less polluting but more expensive grade of fuel they're required to sell in the summer.

"That cuts back on some of the supply and helps to pump up the price," said Mike Pina, a spokesman for AAA.