Oil prices rose above $65 per barrel Today as OPEC maintained crude production levels as expected and a pair of economic reports suggested an economic rebound may push energy prices higher, according to AP. Benchmark crude for July delivery added $1.56 to reach $65.01 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a six-month high. In London, Brent prices gained $1.80 to $64.30 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. Retail gas prices have shadowed oil prices, ticking higher every day this month. Gas prices are not only rising because of crude. Refiners, stung by falling demand for gasoline, have cut back sharply on production this year. The national average pump price increased 1.5 cents overnight to $2.449 a gallon (65 cents a liter), according to auto club AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. Gas is 40.1 cents a gallon more expensive than last month, but it's still $1.495 a gallon (39 cents a liter) cheaper than a year ago. Despite the uptick in petroleum prices, U.S. energy consumption still hovers at its lowest level in a decade. The Energy Information Administration said Thursday that U.S. storage facilities added another 106 billion cubic feet of natural gas last week, putting the overall surplus well above the five-year average. That's largely because manufacturers and other big industrial power users have been slashing production and cutting jobs. The lack of spending on energy over the past several months has meant growing supplies and lower prices, compared with last year.
