Gasoline - Gasoline outlook drives prices up
Average cost rises for eighth straight week, to $2.61 a gallon
NEW YORK — The national average price for gasoline climbed for the eighth straight week, according to a government report released Monday.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that drivers paid an average of $2.610 a gallon for regular gasoline in the week that ended Monday, up from $2.577 the prior week.
Retail gasoline prices are 11.2 cents higher than they were a year ago at this time.
The pump price rose most drastically in the Rocky Mountain region, where average prices jumped 5 cents from the prior week to $2.538 a gallon. However, drivers on the West Coast paid the highest average price of $3.016 a gallon, up from $2.977 a week earlier.
In Houston, drivers were paying an average of $2.425 a gallon, up from $2.370.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, gasoline for April delivery gained nearly 7 cents to settle at $2.0677 a gallon — futures prices not seen since last September.
The retail price of gasoline has followed the futures market sharply higher in recent weeks. The trek upward has been spurred by a drop in U.S. gasoline inventories ahead of the summer driving season, when gasoline demand spikes and prices typically hit their peak.
However, some analysts believe that the market enthusiasm may be premature.
"I think we're seeing the grand finale of the preseason rally. Traders are chasing it higher, but cooler heads will prevail," Tom Kloza of Oil Price Information Service said.
Kloza doesn't expect the same kind of rally the market saw last year, when gasoline prices rose at least a penny a day from the start of spring to May.
Crude oil futures prices settled Monday at their highest level so far this year on tensions between Iran and the West after Tehran's detention of British naval personnel. A barrel of crude oil for May delivery rose 63 cents to settle at $62.91 a barrel.
"The situation in Iran is keeping the market on guard, but the market is also keeping it in perspective," said Phil Flynn, an energy analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago. "There's not a lot of panic buying, just a lot of solid buying."
Iran is the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia.
Heating oil futures rose 6.5 cents to settle at $1.7761 a gallon, while natural gas prices slipped 1.5 cent to $7.254 per million British thermal units.
The Brent crude contract for May delivery gained $1.23 to settle at $64.41 a barrel in London
