Crude, gas hit record highs
NEW YORK - Energy traders rewrote the record books again yesterday, pushing oil futures past $114 a barrel as gasoline and diesel prices struck new highs of their own at the pump.
Light, sweet crude for May delivery jumped as high as $114.08 a barrel shortly after regular trading ended on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That is nearly $2 above an intraday high set last week.
Concerns about insufficient global supply, stoked by a high-profile report by the International Energy Agency that said Russian oil production dropped this year for the first time in a decade, was largely responsible for the surge. Oil prices settled at $113.79 a barrel, up $2.03 from Monday's record close.
Prices at the pump also charged ahead. Retail gasoline prices rose to a national record, averaging $3.39, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Diesel prices jumped to $4.12 a gallon, also a record.
