Gas prices rise to new national record

NEW YORK – Gasoline prices extended their record run at the pump Thursday, but took a breather in futures trading as investors collected profits from the previous session’s huge advance.

Crude oil futures, meanwhile, fluctuated as some investors bought on expectations that the dollar will continue its protracted decline while others sold as the greenback firmed slightly.


At the pump, the national average price of a gallon of gas rose 0.2 cent overnight to $3.289 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. That’s the latest in a string of records set as gas prices have followed surging oil futures higher.

In futures trading Thursday, May gasoline fell 3.44 cents to $2.7392 a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange, dropping back after soaring 13.44 cents to a new record of $2.7736 on Wednesday.

Wednesday’s surge in gas futures, accompanied by a big gain in oil prices, is expected to send prices even higher at the pump in the near future; retail prices follow the futures market, although with some time lag. Gas got a boost from an Energy Department report Wednesday that gasoline supplies fell last week while demand rose for the first time since January.

AP