The price of crude oil will continue to rise -- taking gas prices with it -- despite dropping from a high of US$100.09 a barrel on Friday, according to analysts.

The cost of oil dropped to US$97.91 a barrel on Friday, after U.S. employment reports for December showed lower-than-expected job growth.

The limited job growth strengthened concerns about a possible U.S. recession, which would reduce demand for gasoline.

The drop came one day after oil prices reached a record level above US$100 per barrel.

Jeff Rubin, CIBC's world markets chief economist said the dip wouldn't last and that the cost of crude oil has been steadily rising for months.

"This is not a shock or a spike because somebody shut off the tap," he told CTV News on Friday. "This is just a basic mismatch between growing world appetite for oil and increasing difficulty in bringing new production on."

Rubin said he expects crude oil will reach a constant mark of US$100 by the end of the year. In that case, consumers should expect to pay much more when filling up the gas station, he said.

On Friday, price watchdog www.gasbuddy.com said the average price at Canadian gas stations was 107.94 cents per litre.

How high can prices go?

Rubin said that by summer, when demand for gas is at its highest, it could reach 130 cents, or even 150 cents in some locations.

"People should get used to these prices and, of course, we haven't yet seen the full impact of this at the pump," he said.

"I think a dollar a litre is something you're going to see in your rearview mirror."

If gas prices do reach that level it would mean, among other things, more expensive summer vacations for Canadians.

The average price of gas last July was $1.05 a litre. That meant a family driving 1,700 kilometres from Toronto to Prince Edward Island, and back, would spend about $300 on gas, CTV's David Akin said Friday.

If prices reach $1.30 this summer, the same trip would cost a family $365 in gas alone.

At a price of $1.50, the trip would cost $420 -- an extra $120 over last year's price.

Catherine Hay, a senior associate at MJ Ervin & Associates Inc., said increasing gas costs wouldn't just hit consumers filling up at the gas pumps.

If the price of crude oil settles around the US$100 a barrel mark, transport costs for everything from food to couches would be higher.

"Virtually everything we consume has been transported," Hay told CTV.ca. "And as that cost goes up, so will likely everything else."

With a report from CTV's David Akin