Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Northeast Ohio gas prices remained steady this week. Today, the average price for a gallon of self-serve, regular unleaded gasoline is $3.540.
According to AAA’s Fuel Gauge, crude oil prices settled up $1.26 at $102.33 per barrel Monday, as the markets worked to analyze a weekend of developments in Libya.
Crude oil prices during the last week have continued to weigh the off-setting impacts of uncertainties to both future supply and future demand.
Last week, Saudi Arabia moved troops into Bahrain to quell protests in the neighboring country, following through on an assurance that it will not allow protesters to disrupt Saudi oil production. While Bahrain is a minor crude oil producer, analysts viewed the Saudi move as escalating the state of unrest in the oil-rich region — placing upward pressure on the price of crude oil.
At the same time, shutdown of six Japanese refineries in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami halted 1.4 million barrels per day of crude demand and added to analysts’ concern of a substantial reduction in global demand — placing downward pressure on the price of crude oil, according to an AAA East Central e-mailed press release.