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Surging gas prices are taking a bite out of Michelle Calhoun's coming and going.

"I know I go out less. And if I do go out, I pray to God that someone else pays for the gas," the North Attleboro resident said Monday while filling up her tank at Cumberland Farms in North Attleboro.

Calhoun is just one of many motorists feeling the brunt of a 16-cent increase in gas prices this week.

A statewide survey by AAA Southern New England Monday found an average price of $2.44 per gallon of self-service regular unleaded, compared with $2.29 a week earlier.

The latest weekly increase was one of the sharpest price jumps in Massachusetts except for the prices that followed Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The rise marks the fourth straight week of ascending prices for Massachusetts drivers, who are on average paying 29 cents per gallon more than they did a month ago.

"I think there's something (the companies) can do about it, but they just don't want to," said Calhoun, who commutes 37 miles each way to work in Waltham.

Fellow North Attleboro resident Dave Schoovens, however, thinks the rise in prices is inevitable.

"You don't want to see it happen," he said, "but there are valid reasons of supply and demand."

"You're going to run out of oil eventually," he added.

AAA attributed the increase to higher demand caused by a seasonal rise in industrial activity, speculative investing and geopolitical tensions. Looking at it from another perspective, Schoovens said he has been overseas and seen gasoline prices in the European market.

"The price is $5 a gallon over there," he said. "How would you like that?"