NEW YORK (AP) — The cost of filling up the family car jumped to a record high Tuesday, adding to the challenges consumers already face with falling home values and rising food prices.

Gas prices at the pump rose overnight to a record national average of $3.2272 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. That's a tad higher than the previous record of $3.2265, set last May.

A year ago, rising demand and a string of refinery outages had raised concerns about supplies. Now, the soaring price of crude oil is the culprit, propelling gas higher even though supplies are at 15-year highs.

On Tuesday, light sweet crude for April delivery surged to a new record of $109.72 on the New York Mercantile Exchange before falling after the International Energy Agency cut its forecasts for crude consumption this year. In morning trading, crude futures fell $1.06 to $106.84 a barrel.

Where oil goes from here is anybody's guess. Many analysts expect prices to moderate, while others predict oil could keep rising to $120 a barrel, or higher. Whatever happens with crude, more people will drive, and they'll use more gasoline, as summer approaches.

''Demand is going to go up,'' said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service in Wall, N.J.

And that means gas prices will likely spike as high as $3.50 to $3.75 a gallon, regardless of what happens with oil prices, he said.