Jamestown motorists are digging deeper in their pockets this week as gas prices have increased another five cents to $2.971 a gallon.
Nationally, retail prices rest at $2.787, a 3 cent increase from last week. The price of a gallon of gas the week of March 17, 2009, was $2.092 a gallon.
Oil prices fell from $81.89 last week to $79.77 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday. A slightly stronger dollar combined with broader economic concerns and an upcoming OPEC meeting to push prices lower.
Despite the day's downward adjustment in oil prices, retail gasoline prices have continued to climb higher over the last couple of weeks. Various reports of $3 per gallon pricing predictions stem from anticipation of a traditional spring climb in prices as refiners switch to summer blended fuels and motorists taking advantage of the improved weather to log more miles on the nation's roadways. This year, with the economy still emerging from a deep recession, it remains unclear how strong the spring price jump will be.
Historical price data going back 10 years to the year 2000 shows prices have increased on average roughly 13 percent between March 1 and April 30.
OPEC will meet in Vienna to discuss oil production levels and member compliance with production quotas. From OPEC's perspective, global oil demand has not yet shown signs of increasing significantly while oil supplies are only slightly diminished, so there is little economic value to producing more oil in the short term.