Iowans have been seeing gasoline prices rise almost daily this week, including jumps of a dime-a-gallon in some cities. Triple-A-Iowa spokeswoman Marilynn Muir says most of the price hikes can be blamed on the unrest and violence in Middle Eastern countries, like Libya and Egypt.

“We have to keep in mind that only two-percent of our oil is produced overseas in those areas,” Muir says. OPEC, she notes, could easily make up the extra 2% lost in that region. The motor club says the average gas price in Iowa is now $3.29 a gallon, one cent higher than the national average.

Now that prices at the pump have exceeded the $3 mark, Muir says some speculate they’ll again reach $4 a gallon. “Some people are even saying all the way up to five dollars,” Muir says. “Triple-A is really not seeing that in their speculations but it could very easily rise to four dollars, just because as a consumer, we use more gas in the summertime because more people are traveling.”

Gas prices in Iowa have risen 19-cents a gallon in the past month, 74-cents a gallon in the past year. Iowa’s all-time record high average price for gas was $4.02 a gallon in July of 2008.