U.S. Gasoline Prices Skyrocket

Pain At Pump Increases As The Cost Of Crude Oil Hits $102 A Barrel

(CBS/AP)  The rapidly rising cost of crude oil has prompted a big spike in U.S. gasoline prices, with some experts saying the cost of regular gas could hit $4 a gallon.

The AAA reports that the average cost of regular gasoline in the nation was $3.14 a gallon - up 19 cents a gallon in the past two weeks, according to The New York Times. The cost of gasoline was $2.35 a gallon a year ago.

AAA spokesman Geoff Sundstrom told the Times it was possible gasoline prices could hit $4 a gallon this summer.

"We've gone from a worrying situation for gasoline to one that is quite alarming," Sundstrom told the newspaper.

Driving the increase is the cost of crude oil, which hit an intraday high of $102 a barrel Wednesday as a slide in the U.S. dollar prompted investors to pump more money into energy futures as a hedge against inflation.

The dollar sank to a record low against the euro after the release of three disheartening U.S. economic reports Tuesday that show that the economy is slowing as prices for consumer goods rise. The dollar's decline prompted investors to seek a safe haven from turmoil in the financial markets and the threat of inflation.

"Crude has cracked through the $100-level again and that's driven by financial investors moving money into commodities markets," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.

"The U.S. dollar weakened against the euro and the economic data also indicated that inflation in the U.S. rose in January, and commodities are generally considered a hedge against inflation," Shum said. "We are therefore seeing these strong prices that have really little to do with oil market fundamentals."

Light, sweet crude for April delivery spiked as high as $102.08 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange before slipping back to $101.23, up 35 cents.

The contract on Tuesday jumped $1.65 to settle at $100.88 a barrel, a record close.

In London, Brent crude added 33 cents to $99.80 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange, below the intraday record of $100.30 a barrel set earlier in the session.

The U.S. Labor Department said wholesale inflation rose by 1 percent in January on soaring oil and food costs. And Standard & Poor's also reported that U.S. home prices fell 8.9 percent in the last three months of 2007 from a year earlier.

A report by the Conference Board, a business-backed research group, that its Consumer Confidence Index fell to the lowest since February 2003, far below what analysts had been expecting, indicated that consumers might continue to curb their spending in the coming months.

But traders in both the energy market and the U.S. stock market, which also advanced sharply, seemed largely unfazed. Oil has risen in recent days amid an increase in speculative buying, with some traders believing that global demand will be high enough to support higher crude prices even if the American economy is slowing.

Analysts expect the U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration to report later Wednesday that the nation's crude oil stocks rose last week by 2.4 million barrels, which would be the seventh straight week of gains.

Gasoline inventories are expected to rise by 400,000 barrels while supplies of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel, fell by 1.8 million barrels last week, according to a Dow Jones Newswires poll of analysts.

Also supporting prices were concerns about supply disruptions from unrest in Iraq, a major oil exporter. Turkish ground forces pushed their offensive against Kurdish rebels deeper into the north of Iraq, seizing seven guerrilla camps, officials said Tuesday.

[venkata4--2008]

Three cheers VP & Prez. You have done it. Enjoy your retirement eggs getting super big. Only 10 months remaining 20% of world oil stuck in Iraq with no sign of it coming into market any sooner. Your principle aim had been achieved.

[demslie]

Thats right Democrats. The WAR was about oil. Bad old America lies when we said it was about freedom and democracy even though the IRAQI people, who got to vote after 30 years geoncidal dictatorship, voted for democracy. AS all the Democrats said, "you can''t force (bad old) Democracy on people". IRAN, Al Qaeda and Democrats speak with one voice. After Sen. Harry Reid (d) announced that "The War is Lost", every Democrat alive has been looking for a way for unconditional surrender to the terrorists. Every democrat here is speaking the same "you can''t possibly win" words that Al Qaeda and IRAN have been saying for years. And notice that Democrats say they hate the war but "support the troops". Did you read the support here? It sounds like the Democraps hate the troops as much as any genocidal terrorist. And this is the New Change for America that Saddam Hussein OBAMA, Hitlery and the Democrats have promised us.

[killtheliars]

It''s funny, the price keeps going up because people are scared about supply, yet the forces in Iraq see fit to build a pipeline from Kirkuk to Isreal via Jordan. Since 40% of Iraq''s oil comes from Kirkuk why is it not all being shipped here to the U.S.? Why should America care if Israel gets oil or not? My hope is Obama wins and he really is as indifferent to the fate of Israel as people are aying he is. We need leaders who put care about America and only america.

[omega39-2009]

Posted by demslie

Wise words from a masochistic Bush lover.

[crater7]

NOT TO WORRY?

BRACK (BARRY) HUSSEIN OBAMA, WILL COME TO THE RESCUE.
HE HAS PROMISED THE MOON. NOW HE CAN ADD THE IMPOSIBLE TO HIS LIST OF THE WORLDS WOES HE PLANS TO FIX.

FOLKS; WE HAVE A BIGGER PROBLEM TO WORRY ABOUT. THE LATEST NEWS IS THAT THE WORLD WILL SEE IT''S LAST SUNSET IN 7.6 YEARS. OOPS, DON''T PANIC, AND GO OUT AND SPEND YOUR NEST EGG YET. I MENT TO SAY 7.6 BILLION YEARS.

OF COURSE THIS TIME TABLE COULD BE ALTERED BY THE CURRENT BLUNDERING ADMINISTRATION, WHICH HAS ALMOST A YEAR LEFT IN OFFICE.

GOOD LUCK TO US ALL........

[rowdytexan2]

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Posted by demslie at 08:52 AM : Feb 27, 2008

Ummmmm, I dunno, you might want to ask Bush those questions.

Mr. Bush? Why is the occupation of Iraq failing?

Mr. Bush? Why has the cost of oil gone up on your watch?

Mr. Bush...After 5 years, when is the next democratic election in Iraq?

Mr. Bush...When are those liberated women in Iraq that we trained as policewomen going to get their guns back?

Mr. Bush...Where is Osama bin Laden? We heard he was dead...then the woman who said he was dead was assanated? What''s with that?

Mr. Bush...Why are our troops having to write home of personal supplies when you gave a no-bid contract to Halliburton to provide these for sale to our troops?

Mr. Bush, exactly how many terrists have you actually rounded up?

Mr. Bush, why has democracy failed in Iraq?

Mr. Bush, why haven''t our troops received the MRAPS they requested two and half years ago?

I''ll be waiting for some answers...I''ll even hold my breath.

[bozworth4]

Wish Cuba would find oil. Then maybe we could invade to establish democracy, and to rid them of their WMD, along with any other bogus reason King George II could find to dupe us.

[quetzal0666]

bozworth4.....

There is Oil in cuban Waters,
PEMEX, and China Oil along with Venezuela are currently in the area, but due to this stupid embargo
the us will just be a consumer of sorts..

[gunownerdan]

The billionaires who profit from oil need more solid gold toilets and million dollar chandeliers to put in their new jumbo jets, that''s all.
No big deal.
Being raped in the behind doesn''t hurt too much if it''s done slowly enough.
Most people will barely even notice.

[singingrick]

It''s an idiot tax on the whole country for allowing Bu$h to be President. It comes with record increases in the cost of everything, rampant unemployment, a wrecked economy, loss of standing in the world, a destroyed military, a 9 trillion dollar deficit, a 2 trillion dollar war to add to that, and the list goes on and on.


Enjoy!





Enjoy!

[gunownerdan]

Water-powered cars are now a reality, but since the big oil companies can''t profit from water they will stop at nothing to make sure we continue being addicted to fossil fuels.

[crater7]

Wish Cuba could find oil. Then maybe we could invade;

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR. REMEMBER THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS? I DON''T THINK CHINA WILL BACK DOWN LIKE RUSSIA.

OF COURSE BRACK (BARRY) HUSSEIN OBAMA WILL TALK HIS WAY OUT OF ANY FUTURE CONFLICT. (IF ELECTED)

[quetzal0666]

b48151.....

new drilling wont solve the problem...
the world has already reached maximum capacity of output, whats left is harder to get to and harder to refine, we need to somehow find alternative sources of energy, the Oil curve has long been on the decline.

[walt1944-2009]

Anyone who lived through the Arab oil embargo of the early 1970''s has to remember the big push that government made BACK THEN, to find alternate sources of energy.

There were developments made in wind power, solar power, battery operated cars, ethanol, getting energy from burning trash, and more ideas were coming out every day. Even the movies were coming out with ideas, like using methane from pig poop in "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome"!

But every one of those ideas got shot down by the BIG OIL companies and the UTILITY companies which wanted to keep the big profits rolling in so they could give it to their upper management instead of using it to develop alternate sources of energy that might be cheaper!

Today, we are all going to pay the price for the CORPORATE GREED of BIG OIL and the CORPORATE UTILITIES like Ameron. Gas will be $4 a gallon by Easter and $6 a gallon by July 4, and we all have CORPORATE AMERICA, The Great Emperor Bush II who refuses to do anything to stop the greed and has ruined the dollar, and the neocon Fascist Nazi Republicans who are getting thier share of the profits!!!!

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!!
sig heil, McCain????

[gunownerdan]

Only renewable energy like wind, solar, geothermal, etc. will be able to save our future.

[singingrick]

b48151


Mongoloid, there''s a lot of new drilling going on all over the country. Even if they drilled in places where it is not allowed, it wouldn''t even reduce oil prices by a penny. It''s time to develop the sustainable energy technologies that are already available and kick our dependence on oil altogether. We could have easily done this with the 2 trillion dollars we''re borrowing to stay in Iraq.

[gunownerdan]

Maybe when gas is $10 a gallon we might be able to end our addiction to fossil fuels.
People don''t really demand change unless they start to take a hit in their wallets.

[mbcsmith]

The billionaires who profit from oil need more solid gold toilets and million dollar chandeliers to put in their new jumbo jets, that''''s all.
No big deal.
Being raped in the behind doesn''''t hurt too much if it''''s done slowly enough.
Most people will barely even notice.



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Posted by gunownerdan at 09:25 AM : Feb 27, 2008

Here''s a clue moron. Buy oil stocks and share in the profits.

[mbcsmith]

Thank you Dumbya for bancrupting the country so Exxon, and the other oil/defense titans, can make record profits, while the economy steadily heads south. Neocons still will not accept responsibility for Bush''''s incompetence. Please God anyone but a NeoClown for the next 4 years.We''''re tired of the Best Gov''''t money can buy.


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Posted by web6242a at 09:44 AM : Feb 27, 2008
+ report abuse


Waaaahh, cry, pi$$, moan. LIBS are just too funny!

[crater7]

mongoloid; there''s a lot of new drilling going on all over the country:

I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD SAY THIS, BUT, SINGINGRICK HAS A POINT. PARTS OF WEST TEXAS IS IN ANOTHER OIL BOOM. THEY CAN''T FIND ENOUGH HELP TO WORK THE OIL FIELDS.IT HAS NOT HAD ANY EFFECT ON OIL PRICES. BUT, A SMALL OIL REFINING COMPANY HAD AN MINOR EXPLOSION IN WEST TEXAS, AND THE PRICE OF OIL IMMEDIATELY WENT UP. IMAGINE THAT.

[samael2014]

Posted by jh6379 at 09:16 AM : Feb 27, 2008
??????????????? you libs are the ones that won''''t allow new drilling.


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Posted by b48151 at 09:29 AM : Feb 27, 2008

What kind of completed deluded (or desperately manipulative contrarian) JACKASS believes that a nearly 1000% spike in the price of a barrel of oil over the past 10 years, at which current oil supplies have easily kept up with demand, is due in any part, or will be willingly relieved in any part by oil companies who will substitute HUMUNGOUS profit margins for the costs of retrieving more oil, so they can self-destructively compete with price-fixing at a global scale.

I guess one who believes that an un-impeachable, beyond reproach, sociopathic administration gone wild in America''s White House, while they take America down for the count in service of parasitic Republicans, is a sign of a healthy livid democracy.

JESUS CHRIST.

[omega39-2009]

$4 gallon by Memorial day.

[gunownerdan]

Conservatives think the democrats are to blame, and liberals think the republicans are to blame.
We would all get along much better if we would simply realize that BOTH corrupt parties have been hijacked by corporate interests!

[easeup-2009]

$2.89 here in Ohio, I guess the fear-mongering media doesn''t actually buy gas.....

[republic1776]

The Government of the United States makes more money per gallon than the oil companies.
They do nothing for it!

[gunownerdan]

On the news yesterday:
"Oil prices are going up in part because of the cold weather."

On the news last summer:
"Oil prices are going up in part because of the hot weather."

The excuses change with the temperatures.

[omega39-2009]

$2.89 here in Ohio, I guess the fear-mongering media doesn''''t actually buy gas.....

Posted by easeup

$3.39 this morning here in CA.

[hotplater]

our gov''t is a plutocracy.I personally think no matter who gets the presidency its been bought and paid for by the corporations.have fun watching everything go downhill. we will ruin everything we have for the allmighty dollar.
also we will work ourselves to the bone just to survive.hive mentality

[duffyn]

Exxon mobil made, that is made, after expenses $40 billion dollars last year! And they have yet to make good on the lives they ruined during the Valdez Exxon oil spill. This would be people whose lives depend on the sea p fisherman,etc. bush and condi are heavy and in tight with Exxon. Get the picture? Obama for president is the perfect response to 8 years of "oil execs" in the white house. Exxon mobil, bush, don''t even care they are ruining the very country that made them. And, yes on electric cars. Even big oil and auto can''t stop them. And use fuel cell, solar, whatever is clean. Problem solved.

[aaabee-2009]

Here''''s a clue moron. Buy oil stocks and share in the profits." Posted by mbcsmith at 09:45 AM : Feb 27, 2008

Oh, my, yes.

At the Boston Tea Party, your ancestors had stock in the tea importers.

And during WWII, your relatives had stock in the gas industry.

And during the Missile Crisis, your family had stock in the bomb shelter business.

[mbcsmith]

Posted by AaaBee at 10:04 AM : Feb 27, 2008

and they all made money. What''s your point.

[aaabee-2009]

Posted by mbcsmith at 10:05 AM : Feb 27, 2008

Just means you are Republican, through and through.

[mbcsmith]

Sorry Mbcsmith Wrong, I''''m a conservative tired of the old boys club -If you don''''t think these politicians are paid off you need to stop drinking the acid laced kool aid


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Posted by web6242a at 09:51 AM : Feb 27, 2008

i eagerly await your PROOF!

[quetzal0666]

crater7 ..

I Grew up in midland and allot of my family memebers still live and work there, most of the fields there are almost tapped out, thats why you see so many pump jacks sucking away a little here, a little there,
most wells barely make a few barrels a day at best,
during the 90s most were shut down due to maintenance costs, it cost more to take a barrel of oil out of the ground, that it was to buy it,
allot of the worker shortage has to do with
old wells starting up and having major maintenance
problems, Its the same fields, just older unused machinery coming online.

ill admit theres allot of new exploration going on
allot of new drilling, but most of the major strikes are a thing of the past.

[easeup-2009]

"$2.89 here in Ohio, I guess the fear-mongering media doesn''''''''t actually buy gas.....

Posted by easeup

$3.39 this morning here in CA.

Posted by omega39 at 09:58 AM : Feb 27, 2008"

That $.50 difference would be the taxes....

[gunownerdan]

A picture worth a thousand words:

http://www.prophetofdoom.net/pics/Islamic_Clubs_Taliban/George_W_Bush_Prince_Abdullah_kiss_hold_hands.jpg

[trillion1]

There will always be an excuse to raise gas prices. Do you think the oil companies are about to give up their tens of billions in profits every quarter. Face it congress was worth every peeny they paid for it.

[singingrick]

It''s called an idiot tax. And we will be paying it for years for electing Bu$h.

[glossypan]

$275,000,000 per DAY to occupy Iraq =
high taxes or Borrow & Spend =
a plummeting US dollar.
** ** **
American voters bought eight years of Eternal War - Borrow & Spend
Four More Years ????????

[gunownerdan]

Bush can''t control the price of oil, but those that do sure love him.

[rudy654-2009]

Under Clinton, the oil companies tried to pull this krap, but Clinton countered them. Oh, they whined on Limbaugh and elsewhere. But when Bush came into office, the oil companies rejoiced. They knew there would be no such countering or anything else. Enron had a party, tried to mess with California. And they weren''t the only ones. In the end, these guys are losing their golden boy and they are going to up the price as far as they can.

[lochlan-2009]

Hey LIB, drive less, get rid of the SUV and grow some balls.

Posted by mbcsmith at 10:09 AM

That''s right Lib, change your whole life around, the republican corporation want more for them at your expense.

[missingamerica]

Under Clinton, the oil companies tried to pull this krap, but Clinton countered them.

Posted by rudy654 at 10:16 AM : Feb 27, 2008

You overlook the demand-side pressure that Clinton caused by shoving all of those ill-conceived "free trade" treaties through.

Even if we stop the war - a pretty healthy oil burning process in itself, not to mention the supply-side pressure it causes through reduced production in Iraq and general instability in the Middle East - oil will continue to rise at much faster rates than pre-Clinton because global demand is shooting up as nations like China and India spend our consumer dollars on cars and gasoline.

[omega39-2009]

That $.50 difference would be the taxes....

Posted by easeup

Partly CA has an 18 cents state fuel tax + sales tax (double taxation)

Ohio has a 28 cents state fuel tax

[mcvet]

Hey LIB, drive less, get rid of the SUV and grow some balls.

Posted by mbcsmith at 10:09 AM

That''''s right Lib, change your whole life around, the republican corporation want more for them at your expense.


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Posted by lochlan at 10:20 AM : Feb 27, 2008
+ report abuse

LOL Yep you have to wonder just how much greed these freaks have!

[liberalme]

Come, Lord Jesus. Are you one of God''''s people? This world is living in the end times and judgement is coming soon. Get your life worked out with Jesus Christ now. Don''''t wait. Accidents happen everyday. This could be your day. You may not live long enough to see gas prices reach $4.00 per gallon. Read the book of John in the new testament of the Holy Bible. It will reveal to you how to be saved. Follow that up with the book of Romans, also in the new testament. I hope this leads even one soul to Heaven. Eternity is an awfully long time to be wrong.
Posted by catologue at 1

What does Jesus/God have to do with the price of oil?

This world is living in the end times and judgement is coming soon.

Is there a date written somewhere--just want to be sure I free.

[maedean]

We owe this all to Bush!!!! The oil companies have made record profits since he has been in office.We can''t even afford to get to work . What a total looser this maggot is ............

[mcvet]

Bush can''''t control the price of oil, but those that do sure love him.


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Posted by gunownerdan at 10:13 AM : Feb 27, 2008
+ report abuse

Well now THAT was NOT what he told us when he was running for the office. He said that IF the price of Gas, which was around a $1.20 per Gallon at that time, were to get much above that he would use his influence with his good friends the Saudi''s and get them to produce more. Check out the ad''s and propaganda during the 2000 election.

[watcher269-2009]

Wow Republicans can''t control spending - who voted for this Dorks?

here''s more news too!

The accounting scandal now haunting the National Republican Congressional Committee was preceded by a series of decisions over the past decade to relax internal financial controls at the committee, according to numerous Republican sources familiar with the NRCC%u2019s operations during those years.

Under Virginia Rep. Tom Davis and New York Rep. Thomas Reynolds, who chaired the committee from 1999 until the end of 2006, the NRCC waived rules requiring the executive committee %u2014 made up of elected leaders and rank-and-file Republican lawmakers %u2014 to sign off on expenditures exceeding $10,000, merged the various department budgets into a single account and rolled back a prohibition on committee staff earning an income from outside companies.

[missingamerica]

Actually, Bush is controlling the price of oil by proxy. The hedge funds are wreaking havoc on oil prices through speculation, and this Administration has refused point-blank to put them under even as much scrutiny as a company that wishes to sell stocks must undergo.