Price of oil increases and pushes national average to $3.94 a gallon
The price of crude oil increased slightly last week to settle Friday at $113.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange $1.64 more than last week. After a relatively stable week, oil prices made minimal gains when Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank will keep record low interest rates, which reduced the value of the dollar against foreign currencies and pushed oil prices higher.
Seven refineries were forced to shut down in Texas, Alabama and Pennsylvania last week as a result of severe weather and power outages. Although the refineries are expected to be up and running earlier this week, the shut down cut production by approximately one million barrels a day. The seven refineries mostly ship to the Southeast, Midwest and Gulf Coast states.
In addition, U.S. gasoline stockpiles deceased by approximately 2.5 million barrels last week, signaling a possible increase in fuel demand before the summer driving season, which runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
The national average price of unleaded regular gasoline is $3.94, eight cents more than last week. Florida’s average price is $3.88 per gallon, six cents more than last week. While Georgia’s average price of $3.82 and Tennessee’s average price of $3.75 both increased nine cents from last week, respectively.
Current and past price averages:
National: Current $3.943 – Week ago $3.860 – Month ago $3.619 – Year ago $2.885
Florida: Current $3.877 – Week ago $3.829 – Month ago $3.635 – Year ago $2.892
Source: AAA Auto Club South