(RALEIGH) -- Gas prices continue going up in North Carolina. Tom Crosby is a spokesman for Triple-A Carolinas. He says prices have only gone up about 4 cents over the last week.

"But a month ago we were up 22 cents. So, July was one of the quickest celebrations we've seen in the last ten years. Today, the price is about $3.44 per gallon. A year ago it was $3.72 per gallon."

Crosby says many things go into the determining the price of gas including demand. Crosby says another of the problems is our relationship with Iran.

"They are threatening to do something to the oil supply coming out of the Gulf of Hamas. I think that's worrying people and it's driving up oil futures. Another thing is July is one of the heaviest Summer travel months, and that's worth factoring."

The U-S increased it's sanctions against Iran this week so Crosby says we will continue to see some nervousness for a while on oil markets.

"I think that's going to sustain the nervousness over the mid-East and that's going to help push prices up. The other thing Working in the other direction, the economic situation in Europe remains unsettled, and when they have problems over there it translates in to good news for us at the pump."

Will gas get back to the $4.00 per gallon area? "It's just hard to say," Crosy says, "we have no control over what's happening -- it's all global. Places like China and Brazil could have economies that start booming and consume more oil, then we will see the prices go up and possibly reach $4.00. However, if Europe continues to struggle, that will help push the price down."

The price of gas increased 4 cents a gallon in the last week alone.