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Gas Prices Continue To Spike In Chicago Area

CHICAGO (CBS) -- You're not seeing things. The price of gasoline is shooting up to levels that Chicagoans haven't seen in a couple of years.

LISTEN: Newsradio 780's Bernie Tafoya Reports

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In Chicago, the average price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline jumped overnight to $3.50--which is 17 cents higher than just one week ago, according to the AAA Chicago Motor Club.

One year ago, Chicago motorists were paying an average of $2.84 a gallon. These are the highest prices seen since 2008. The highest prices in the United States? Hawaii at $3.76 a gallon.

Anti-government protests in Libya have continued to create nervousness in the oil markets--which is driving prices higher. Oil production in the North African county has ground to a halt.

The price of a barrel of oil was trading around $97 on Friday, which down from a high of $103 barrel earlier in the week.

Dan Ronan of AAA said there is no reason for gas prices to shoot up so high, so quickly.

"If the situation in Libya deteriorates, and there has been talk of sabotaging oil fields, and it spreads to other nations along the Persian Gulf, clearly there is going to be a supply problem," he said. "Right now, we don't have a supply problem."

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