Fueled by optimism about the reversal of a prolonged recession, rising crude oil prices have driven gasoline prices to the highest point in more than two years. The increase is not as pronounced in Oklahoma, according to AAA.
Signs that the United States may be emerging from a prolonged economic recession are driving crude oil prices higher, meaning the country could see $3 gasoline at Christmas.
“That has never happened before,” AAA Oklahoma spokesman Chuck Mai.
The national average for gasoline was about $2.95 on Monday, he said, higher than it has been in more than two years.
Although supplies remain plentiful and gasoline demand has diminished since September, retail gas prices are rising because oil prices are at the highest levels since October 2008, settling Monday at $88.96 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Mai said the rise of gasoline prices has not been as steep in Oklahoma.
Oklahoma drivers must pay an average of about $2.78 a gallon to fill their tanks, he said. That is only about a nickel higher than Nov. 17, but more than state drivers have had to pay since May.
Monday’s gasoline price in Oklahoma City was $2.764 a gallon, according to AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report. Tulsa’s average price at the pump was slightly lower at $2.727 a gallon.
Mai said the weak U.S. dollar, equities gains on Wall Street and some positive economic news have pushed oil prices higher artificially.
“It’s not justified by cold, hard economic realities,” he said.
