How much have you been paying for gas lately?

"$50.24," said one Oahu resident.

"$59.78," said another.

And the price is still on its way up. But when? We go to energy researcher Dr. Kang Wu.

"I think the price will increase by the summer all because the driving season is coming and that will drive up the price nationwide and that will affect Hawaii," the East-West Center researcher said. "By June, July, that will be the time we'll see higher prices."

And just how high will they go?

"Chances are we are moving toward $4 kind of a range because of the high demand and also because of the higher crude oil prices," Dr. Wu said.

Moloka'i and Lana'i are already there; it was $4.13/gal for regular unleaded at one gas station on Molokai Tuesday and an unbelievable $4.61/gal on Lana'i. Around Oahu, the average was $3.48/gal according to AAA daily fuel gauge report.

And it all comes back to oil. So what's driving up the cost of crude? Because of a weaker dollar, and, Dr. Wu said, it's simple supply and demand.

"It's not necessarily the United States, but the Pacific region; China, India, the Middle East; they all add to demand. So the whole world, the demand is not coming down yet and the supply is tight."

If the cost of crude continues to be high, Dr. Wu said there will be more incentive to consider alternative energy, like biofuel.

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