Gas Prices Rising Again

07/08/96

Gas Futures are up, again: good news for investors, bad news for consumers. August Gasoline prices rose 1.58 cents to 62.47 cents per gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after the weekly inventory figures came out before the holiday weekend. Both the American petroleum institute and the Energy Information Agency showed significant declines in gasoline stock piles. Crude oil stocks are up, but that hasn't driven down crude oil prices, which are being driven up by the delay in implementing an oil-for-food deal that the UN made with Iraq. On both accounts--higher market prices fro both crude oil and gasoline--consumers will be paying more at the gas pumps. Additionally, it takes prices a longer to fall in response to lower market prices than it takes them to rise in response to higher market prices.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel