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Area motorists are understandably frustrated with the cost of gasoline prices at the pump that have climbed 20 cents the past three weeks.

"I spend $10 and get three gallons. What's that?" remarked Paul McKay of North Attleboro as he pumped gas into his pickup truck at the Cumberland Farms at the corner of County and Wall streets in Attleboro where regular is going for $2.89 a gallon. "I used to have money left over for a smoke."

McKay blamed President Bush, an oilman. "It is because of Bush. While he is in there, they are going to go up," he said.

Another driver of a pickup truck also gasing up at the station had just returned from North Carolina where he said prices are about 20 cents cheaper.

"I'm not too happy with it. They say it is going to go even higher," said Scott Jolicoeur, who added he is putting about $50 a week into his truck. "You really feel it. I think we are too dependent on foreign oil." Jolicoeur put 12 gallons in his truck, with the tab running $36. "When it gets this high, I don't fill up," Jolicoeur said. "It is too much of a shock."

Gasoline prices are resembling the cost build-up usually seen around Memorial Day, not Veteran's Day.

Prices jumped 12 cents from last week - the biggest one-week hike since prices climbed 16 cents March 5.

A statewide survey by AAA of Southern New England Monday found an average price of $2.84 per gallon for self-service regular, which is the highest ever recorded for November and highest since Aug. 6 during the height of the summer driving season when prices usually are high.

Prices increased 5 and 3 cents the previous two weeks respectively.

Gasoline prices usually dip after Labor Day into fall and winter as demand drops due to the end of the summer driving season, but this year after remaining relatively stable for several weeks, they are increasing.

Prices were $2.67 Labor Day. Last year, the costs in Massachusetts decreased from $2.76 around Labor Day to $2.12 a year ago.

Record crude oil prices of $96 a barrel are being blamed for a big part of the cost climb, AAA says. The price of a barrel of oil has jumped about $15 or about 20 percent the past month partly due to concerns about winter supply. And there are predictions the century mark will soon be hit.

But the price surge is attributed not so much to supply and demand but the three-month decline in the U.S. dollar and speculative investment in commodities such as gold and oil that have retained their value, analysts say.

The picture could be worse around here as the Massachusetts price for a gallon of gasoline is 16 cents below the national average of $3. The low for this year was $2.15 in early February; Jan. 1 it was $2.34.

The range in prices for regular is 36 cents, from $2.63 to $2.99.

The average prices for self-serve midgrade and premium are $2.96 and $3.07, respectively.

Motorists can find up-to-date gas prices with the AAA Fuel Finder by logging onto www.AAA.com and clicking on Gas Saving Tips & Tools. Also, motorists can visit aaa.com to plan road trip routes.