TIFTON — Gasoline climbed to record levels in South Georgia last week, mirroring state and national trends.

The lowest gas price reported in Tifton earlier this week was $4.09 at a store on 20th Street, according to the price tracking website gasbuddy.com. The highest price reported in the city was $4.39 per gallon.

The average  price of a gallon of regular gasoline was $4.26, an increase of 24 cents in seven days and 75 cents in two weeks, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report.

The auto club said Valdosta hit its all-time highest average price, $4.28 per gallon, on Friday.

Valdosta had the seventh-highest average gasoline price among the 15 metro markets the auto club monitors in Georgia — beneath Savannah, Macon, Gainesville, Brunswick, Atlanta and Albany but above Warner Robins, Rome, Hinesville, Dalton, Columbus, Catoosa, Augusta and Albany. A week earlier Valdosta had the highest average gas price in the state.

Nationally, the average fuel price was $4.33 per gallon, up 26 cents over the previous week, while Georgia’s average of $4.29 per gallon was up 29 cents in the same period, AAA said.

The cost of crude oil topped $123 per barrel in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, though the price has started sliding again. The oil cartel OPEC has suggested it might ramp up production to make up the shortfall.

Russia, one of the largest oil providers, found itself virtually cut off from global markets as oil firms and national government cut ties with Moscow. While the U.S. has never imported much Russian oil, those nations that did now have to try to buy from other providers that also serve the U.S., driving up prices for the more limited pool of oil.

“It bears reminding that the cost of oil accounts for about 50% of what drivers pay at the pump,” said Andrew Gross, AAA spokesperson. “This war is roiling an already tight global oil market and making it hard to determine if we are near a peak for pump prices, or if they keep grinding higher. It all depends on the direction of oil prices.”

In Monday’s midday market action, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost $6.51 to $102.82 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It surged $3.31 per barrel on Friday to $109.33 per barrel.