NEW YORK (AP) — Runaway oil prices blew past $130 a barrel for the first time Wednesday and kept going, while gasoline prices persisted in their own relentless climb, rising above $3.80 a gallon. Supply worries, rising demand and a slumping dollar are conspiring to make filling up the car — and paying for just about everything else — a growing burden for Americans.
Analysts say crude has been boosted in recent days by especially strong demand for diesel in China, where power plants in some areas are running desperately short of coal and certain earthquake-hit regions are relying on diesel generators for power.
Only serious "demand destruction," a jump in supplies from Nigeria or other oil producing nations or a jump in gasoline output by U.S. refiners could stop prices from continuing to rise, Rafield said. There is little sign that demand will fall anytime soon in fast-growing China, India and the Middle East, she said.
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Serenity Now, Panic Later
“For everybody out there, the question is how can the stock market go up if oil is going to keep on doing this,” says William Lefkowitz, chief options strategist at vFinance Investments. “People are concerned this might continue.”
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