Last modified: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 2:51 AM EDT Gasoline prices crossed the $4 a gallon mark all over the area, including the Mobil station on South Street in Wrentham. (Staff photo by Mike George) $4 a gallon a first for state BY GREG CLAYMAN FOR THE SUN CHRONICLE Gasoline prices are rising with the temperature. With costs in Massachusetts having risen for the ninth consecutive week and for the first time surpassing $4 per gallon, drivers found some solace at the Commonwealth Avenue Cumberland Farms in Attleboro Falls, where they could fill their gas tanks up for $3.97 for a gallon of regular. AAA Southern New England's weekly survey Monday found self-serve, regular in Massachusetts averaging $4.03 per gallon - 7 cents more than last week and $1.04 higher than the start of the year. Mark Bigea, 48, of Attleboro, driving a new-model Toyota Tacoma, noted the continually climbing gas prices are affecting everything. "It's not even a big truck, and it costs me $70 to fill it up. I just try to fill up wherever it is cheapest now, which is here or the Hess in North Attleboro," Bigea said. It pays to shop around as AAA found the range in prices for regular in this state is 33 cents, from a low of $3.91 to a high of $4.24. Find the most up-to-date local gas prices with the AAA Fuel Finder by logging onto AAA.com and clicking on Gas Saving Tips & Tools. Driving a 1999 Jeep, Chris Harrington, also of Attleboro, said despite the gas prices, he would never buy another vehicle but a Jeep, and is looking to get a new one soon to take advantage of the $2.99 per gallon gas deal for the first 12,000 miles. Harrington also offered some insight as to what might happen to the rest of the economy because of these rising gas prices. "I have friends that drive trucks for a living that have to be filled with diesel, costing the company anywhere from $500 to $1,000 per week to fill those tanks. Eventually this cost is going to filter down to the consumer - with the prices of everything from toilet paper to food products rising because it will cost more to deliver it all." Diesel rose 5 cents from last week to $4.96 per gallon, AAA said. Pulling into the gas station in a 2006 Harley-Davidson, David Tannock of Smithfield, R.I. says he tries to fill up in Massachusetts because the gas prices are even higher in Rhode Island, due to higher taxes. Regular is going for an average of $4.07 in the neighboring state. "I'm glad I bought the motorcycle before gas prices went up. I get 50 miles to the gallon with it, and every day it doesn't rain, I'll be riding this thing," Tannock said. Richard Boyes, a North Smithfield, R.I. resident, has to use higher grade gas for his 2000 Saab 9.5. "It gets about 20 miles to the gallon and costs anywhere from $70 to $80 to fill up. The prices are just brutal now." Midgrade gas in Massachusetts is average $4.14 per gallon, and premium $4.24, AAA said. Lynn Davey of Attleboro, filling her Nissan Sentra, says that filling her car isn't too bad - around $40 - but her daughter, a graduate student in college, drives a Ford Explorer. "She had to drive from Attleboro to Springfield and back twice a week for her classes. I can imagine she has quite a few credit card bills to pay off because of it." Lynn does have a secret as to not having to feel bad about dropping $50 every time one visits the gas station. "I try to never let the gas drop below half a tank. That way when I fill it up, it makes me think that I'm beating the system." Gas prices rose further above a national average of $4 Monday, and are likely to keep rising as distributors and retailers hike prices in response to last week's unprecedented oil price rally and tight supplies, analysts say. However, Saudi Arabia said it would call for a meeting among oil producing nations to discuss crude prices that it called "unjustifiably high." The national average has hit a record $4.02 per gallon, according to AAA, and first moved above $4 nationally on Sunday. If oil prices remain near $139 a barrel - Friday's record high, gas prices will likely rise another dime in coming days, said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service in Wall, N.J. "The numbers do have some catching up to do," Kloza said. AAA spokesman Geoff Sundstrom thinks prices could rise another 2 to 3 cents. At $150 a barrel - a prediction that helped ignite last week's oil rally - gas would cost about $4.40 a gallon, Kloza said. On Monday, crude fell $4.19 to settle at $134.35 a barrel. The $10.75 jump Friday had some of the hallmarks of a "bubble" - a sharp run-up in prices that's followed by steep declines, analysts said. Gas prices often peak around Memorial Day, then retreat over the course of the summer, but costs have been marching steadily higher since last fall. With Associated Press reports