|
Gasoline prices on the rise
|
 |
March 31, 1999: 5:37 p.m. ET
Average price up almost 11 percent on average the past two weeks
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - American consumers planning to hit the road this holiday weekend will find prices at the pump a little harder to swallow, according to a new survey.
The American Automobile Association said Wednesday that gasoline prices have risen, on average, almost 11 percent the past two weeks -- the largest jump since Iraq's invasion of Kuwait nearly nine years ago.
The average price of self-service regular unleaded gasoline jumped an average of 11.8 cents to $1.088 in the two weeks leading up to March 30, AAA said. Self-service premium gasoline is up 11.1 cents on average to $1.235.
Drivers along the West Coast have experienced the largest average increase of 13.9 cents to $1.24 a gallon, while Southeast drivers continue to pay the least at approximately $1.00 per gallon, AAA said.
The inflated prices are direct result of the deal signed by Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers last week to cut world output by 3 percent, or 2.1 million barrels daily.
OPEC members struck the agreement in the hopes of ending one of their worst price slumps on record returning oil prices to $18 a barrel.
So far, their strategy seems to be working. Crude-oil prices inched above the $17 a barrel level on the New York Mercantile Exchange late Wednesday before slipping back to $16.68.
International Petroleum Exchange oil futures also barreled forwarded yesterday, hitting a high of $15.28 before closing up 41 cents to $15.22 per barrel.
But AAA spokesman Bill Jackman said the price hike is also partially grounded in largely unfounded fears of tighter gasoline supplies. Those fears were heightened by last week's massive explosion in the gasoline-making unit at one of Chevron Corp.'s major California refineries.
"If OPEC manages to keep the pact together, then prices could [go higher], but most experts are saying there's just too much inventory out there that they've got to get rid of," Jackman said. "Its hard to sell and export gasoline when you have several billion gallons of reserves."
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
