Pump-price increases are coming in the US despite slack domestic demand for gasoline, which remains “persistently 5-8 percent below 2007 peak-year levels,” reports ClearView.
Global oil demand was about 85 million b.p.d. in 2009, rising to 88 million in 2010 and on track to hit 90 million b.p.d. this year, according to the International Energy Agency.
Last week the national average price for gasoline at the pump hit $3.19 a gallon, up 54 cents (17 percent) from a year ago. Some pump prices on the west coast reached as high as $3.48 a gallon, the federal government reported. Rising global demand will continue to push prices up – as will political turmoil in key oil-producing nations, experts say.
