As the week closes, gas seems to rise even further. As of today, the national average of gas is at $3.50 a gallon and diesel well over $4.00 a gallon and crude oil placed a new record at $117 a barrel. Refineries in the U.S. plan on switching from winter grade oil to a less pollutant type of summer grade which is very expensive since the switch is required by law.
Reports indicated that an oil pipeline owned by SHELL in Nigeria was sabotaged by militant groups which spiked the costs of crude upwards. Nigeria is a major supplier of oil to the United States.
As always, the spike in gas prices affect the overall economy with prices of housing going up, foreclosures escalating, food prices climbing, and a recession taking its toll on the American citizens. The Federal Reserve might even cut interests rates more, which in turn will weaken the American dollar. Expect the price of gas to reach $4.00 a gallon on average nationwide soon. When will it go down? Only BIG OIL knows. For now, we just have to take what we can afford.
http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/gas-prices-push-closer-to-350-a-gallon/n20080418152509990012
