A vast majority of consumers expect to shell out $4 and even $5 a gallon this year, according to a recent poll.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Americans are already paying through the nose for gasoline, and they think it's only going to get worse.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll found that 94% of respondents expect they will have to pay $4 a gallon sometime this year - and 78% said they figure it will hit $5.

The national average for gasoline was $3.61 on Monday.

Consumers' fear they will have to pay more has intensified. A year ago, 79% thought gas would cost $4 gas by the end of 2007 and only 28% feared $5 gas.

At the same time, high prices seem to be easier to swallow now than it has been for most consumers in the past. Of the more than 1,000 American adults surveyed in the poll, conducted April 28-30, 60% said high fuel prices have caused hardship for them or their household. That's down from 72% in March and 66% during the same time last year.

That may be because Americans have been curtailing their driving. Demand for gas is far below the average for this time of year.

"Gasoline is the most elastic of all commodities," said Stephen Schork, editor of energy industry newsletter The Schork Report. "It takes a big jump in prices to alter commuters' behavior, but it appears we have now approached that level."

Of course, for some Americans in California, Hawaii, and other western areas of the country $4 gas is already a reality. Gas prices have set record after record, rising 18.4% so far in 2008. Most of that increase has come in the past month.

And with crude oil topping $120 a barrel Monday for the first time, gas may continue its historic rise.

"With oil prices so high, refiners' incentive to produce gasoline demand is very thin," noted Schork, saying that low gasoline supplies have meant higher prices for consumers.

Where do consumers place the blame? With oil companies like ExxonMobil (XOM, Fortune 500) and Chevron (CVX, Fortune 500) taking home record income in the past year, 83% said oil companies are making too much profit.