Oil prices settled above the psychologically important $70 a barrel mark on Friday for the first time since August 2006 on worries about gasoline supplies in the heart of the summer driving season.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery rose $1.11 to settle at $70.68 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

At the pump, gas prices continued to defy analyst expectations by falling 0.4 cent overnight to a national average price of $2.971 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.

In Lawrence, a gallon of regular unleaded averaged $2.958 on Friday, down 0.002 cent from a day earlier, according to AAA. Lawrence’s peak average was $3.334 on May 23.