U.S. retail gasoline prices moved above a record high $3.40 a gallon (3.8 liters) Thursday, meeting expectations that they will continue to climb toward $4 as the summer driving season approaches. The average national price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline jumped 1.9 cents overnight to nearly $3.42 a gallon, according to the Oil Price Information Service and travel group AAA. Diesel fuel also hit a new record high above $4.16 a gallon after rising 1.7 cents overnight. The soaring price of gasoline and diesel is pressuring consumers, who use the first fuel for their cars and buy goods that grow more expensive because of rising transportation costs associated with the second fuel. The situation will become worse, with most analysts expecting average national gasoline prices to peak near $4 a gallon later in the spring. Prices are already that high in some parts of the country, including California. In part, gasoline prices are rising because refiners are switching over from winter-grade gasoline to the more expansive but less polluting fuel they are required to sell in the summer. The switch has reduced supplies lately as refiners try to sell of all of their winter fuel. But rising crude-oil prices and expected higher summer demand for gasoline also are raising prices. Demand for gasoline has fallen since January, but it is expected to rise from current levels as families travel for vacation in a few months.
