NEWS RELEASES
Gas Prices Rise Five Cents In A Week As World Oil Prices Spike
Editor's Note: This news item was retrieved and first published through AAA Newsroom's website.
AAA reports that the average national gas price rose a nickel last week to $2.74, eight cents more than a year ago and up 28 cents from last month. Jeanette Casselano, AAA spokesperson, said, “Motorists in the West Coast, Rockies, Great Lakes and Central regions are seeing some of the largest weekly increases while prices mostly east of the Mississippi have made more moderate jumps.” AAA attributes these increases to steady demand and tightening inventories, with a dip in overall refinery utilization to 86% compared to 93% last year.
Meanwhile Reuters looks at the bigger picture, as oil prices hit five-month highs on the world market, up 2% on Monday. Industry experts expect global supplies will continue to tighten due to fighting in Libya, OPEC-led cuts and U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela. OPEC and its allies such as Russia pledged to withhold around 1.2 million barrels per day of supply from the start of this year and are so far exceeding expectations. OPEC meets again in June.
Read the full Reuters report here.