There have been more than two weeks of daily gas-price records in Southern California – AAA estimated Friday's average for regular unleaded gas in San Diego County at $3.83, 7.8 cents higher than last week and 49 cents higher than last year – and still no sign of a slowdown, according to gas-industry experts and consumer watchdog groups.

But unlike some past gas-price spikes linked to limited inventories, some refiners say there's a surplus of gasoline. In fact, they're cutting back U.S. production because of lower consumer demand and plunging profit margins.

A ravenous demand for fuel from developing countries such as China and India, investor speculation in oil futures, and a continuing weak dollar are pushing gas prices to record highs, they say.

“The price of gas is not high because there is any shortage of it. In fact, there is a surplus of gas. ... We are running out of places to put it,” said Bill Day, a spokesman for Valero Energy Corp., which runs two refineries in California.

“Gas is high because the price of crude oil is high,” Day said. “Consumers think there is someone pulling the strings and setting prices, but it's the marketplace that sets the price. It is very, very unusual for oil to be as expensive as it is, and the dollar to be as low.”

Crude futures Friday surged to a record of more than $117 a barrel in after-market trading, pushed higher after a militant group in Nigeria said it had sabotaged a major oil pipeline operated by a Royal Dutch Shell joint venture and promised further attacks on the country's petroleum industry.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery settled up $1.83 at a record $116.69 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was the fifth day in a row that crude prices set records.

The escalation in crude prices threatened to further boost gasoline costs.

At the pump, the national average price of regular gas rose 2.7 cents overnight to a record $3.445 a gallon, according to a survey of stations by the American Automobile Association and the Oil Price Information Service. Diesel fuel added 2.2 cents to a record national average of $4.168 a gallon.

“I would say that energy prices are having the most profound effect on the economy in recent memory,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago, in a research note.

It's not only at the gas pump that consumers are feeling the pain. Diesel fuel runs most of the world's trucks, trains, ships and heavy equipment, and is a major factor in pushing food prices higher, experts say.

“It's the cost of diesel that is really harming consumers in a way they can't see,” said Charles Langley of San Diego's Utility Consumers' Action Network, which tracks local fuel prices. “When you fill up the tank and it costs $60 or $100, it hurts, but when you go to the grocery store and the price of meat and vegetables is soaring, that's diesel in action, and it's highly inflationary.”

Friday, local gas was $3.86 a gallon, up from $3.76 from the previous week and $3.35 a year ago, according to UCAN estimates. Diesel reached an unprecedented $4.42 a gallon, up from $3.14 a gallon a year ago.

UCAN predicts that fuel prices will peak sometime in May, hold steady, and then drop before the fall election. But that assumes a stable oil price, and that's a big assumption, Langley said.

“Here's the scary part: Oil prices have increased by 182 percent, while gasoline costs have only increased by 115 percent,” he said. “If today's gas prices reflected the same level of increase in oil prices, plus last year's refinery margins, San Diego gasoline could potentially cost as much as $5 a gallon.”

No one is predicting $5 gas; refiners and others can't charge that kind of money because they would price themselves out of the market, Langley said. But refineries have been shutting down capacity to restrict supply, helping to further drive up the price of fuel, he said.

Langley said he's still hopeful that gas won't go above $4.

“At this point it seems like a sunny, optimistic prediction,” Langley said. “But if it does go above $4, it won't stay for long – at least that's our hope.”