Oil Prices Continue to Rise, Hold Above $60
February 8th, 2007 | by Brian Carr |Thanks to continued record cold temperatures across most of the United States, the price of a barrel of crude oil jumped another $.50 today to close above $60 - $60.21 to be exact - for the first time since late December.
In addition to the cold weather, continued violence in Nigeria as well as escalating hostilities between the United States and Iran were the other main culprits behind oil prices breaking the $60 barrier.
Due to the continued increase in the price of oil, the average price of a gallon of regular gas increased by $.01 today to $2.22. Additionally, Montana, the last state to show a state-wide average gas price below $2.00 per gallon, finally got over the $2.00 barrier and is now reporting an average gas price of $2.01 per gallon.
Oddly enough, the increase in the price of crude oil is actually out pacing the rise in the price of gasoline. During the past two weeks, the price of oil has risen roughly 10% - from just below $55 to slightly above $60 - while the national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is up only 3% - from $2.15 to $2.22.
Now there’s something you certainly don’t see very often!
