Associated Press | After a break, gasoline prices are ready to
climb again.
Surging wholesale gasoline prices should push pump prices to an 18-month
high and put drivers in many parts of the country on the cusp of having
to pay $3 per gallon for gasoline. Wholesale prices jumped 5 cents
Friday and that should mean retail prices of at least $2.87 per gallon
in the next couple of days, the highest level since October 2008, said
Tom Kloza of Oil Price Information Service.
Oil prices have doubled in the last year as various economic indicators and a surging stock market suggest the Great Recession is over and that energy consumption will improve, especially in emerging markets such as China and Latin America.
Gasoline prices tend to move higher with oil prices. Also in the spring gasoline demand typically picks up and more expensive blends are produced to meet anti-pollution requirements. The Energy Department and a number of analysts expect average retail gasoline prices to top $3 a gallon nationally by summer.
For the last week, the nationwide average was $2.854 per gallon Monday, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. Prices have risen 4.8 cents in the last month and are 80.2 cents higher than a year ago.
The government’s Energy Information Administration will release its weekly price survey later Monday.
Though it may not seem like it, drivers have been getting a break at the gas pump. Oil prices of $80 a barrel, about the average cost for crude so far this year, typically mean a pump price of about $2.90 per gallon, said oil analyst and trader Stephen Schork.
With crude prices at $85, “I can’t see how we don’t get to $3 on a national average,” he said. However, he said, demand for gasoline continues to be weak.
Oil prices eased Monday after jumping Friday. Benchmark crude for May delivery fell 94 cents, to $84.18 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier in the session, it was high as $85.63.
In other Nymex trading in May contracts, heating oil fell 1.41 cents to $2.2364 a gallon, and gasoline dropped 1.41 cents to $2.3390 a gallon. Natural gas lost 2.9 cents to $4.228 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude gave up 61 cents at $86.64 on the ICE futures exchange.
Any economic recovery will now be sacrificed at the hands of commodity speculators.
If analysts say to expect $3 a gallon, watch for the speculators to push that to $3.50 or even higher.
I won’t feel the least bit of sympathy for them when those prices cripple the economy and their oil bubble bursts again.
It is long past time to get the speculators out of the oil business. This is greed plan and simple. Gas should be priced at cost plus a reasonable profit, set by competition between the oil companies on the main street market.
Time to ride your bicycles or walk.
Where do they buy gas!!
How about 3.04 to 3.12 per gallon
2.87 to 2.94 hasn’ been seen in awhile
Quit kissin up and tell like it really is.
We’re gettin screwed in plain kings english!!
Now, no one likes higher gas prices, but all you fools need to deduct the FEDERAL AND STATE TAXES on your GAS price to get the REAL price per gallon. Secondly, do not ***** if you voted for fools who want to raise TAXES all the time. Quit spending over your limits. OMG you people are so full of it!!!