Gas Prices Near All-Time High
Gasoline prices closed just below their all-time high Wednesday, sparking fresh worries that prices at the pump could spike higher during the summer driving season.
At the New York Mercantile Exchange, gasoline for June delivery streaked to a life-of-contract high of $1.1605 a gallon near the close, surging 5.27 cents, or 4.8%--just a quarter-cent below the $1.163 record peak of April 30.
The contract settled at $1.1589 a gallon, gaining 5.11 cents, or 4.6%, on the day. Powering the gains was the release of weekly estimates by industry and government officials. High demand for gasoline and cleaner-burning reformulated gasoline, known as RFG, led to a decline in stockpiles, industry sources said.
“There was something of a run on RFG supplies last week,” said Tim Evans, senior market analyst at IFR-Pegasus, as demand for gasoline tallied a hefty 8.8 million barrels a day, about the weekly average during the summer driving season.
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