Gas prices push higher, oil hits $117
Written on April 20, 2008
Retail gas prices set records again Friday on their seemingly relentless march toward $3.50 a gallon as the price of oil surged to a record $117 a barrel.
At the pump, the national average price of regular gas rose 2.7 cents overnight to a record $3.445 a gallon, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. In St. Louis, the average price was $3.419 a gallon, while in the Metro East area, where taxes are higher, the price was $3.636.
Some analysts expect gas prices to peak near $3.80 a gallon.
Light, sweet crude for May delivery rose to a trading record of $117 in after-hours electronic trading Friday after settling up $1.83 at a record $116.69 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange no qualifying payday advance.
The price of crude oil was pushed higher after a militant group in Nigeria said it had sabotaged a major oil pipeline operated by a Royal Dutch Shell PLC joint venture and threatened further attacks.
Filed in: economics.