PROVIDENCE – Local gasoline prices rang in the new year in a very familiar fashion, by getting more expensive, AAA Southern New England reported Monday.
The auto club’s Jan. 3 survey found the average price of self-serve, unleaded regular at Ocean State stations was $3.15, up one penny from last week and 8 cents above the national average of $3.07.
Crude oil rose to a 27-month high on speculation the United States will sustain an economic recovery this year, bolstering fuel demand in the world’s biggest oil-consuming country, Bloomberg News reported Monday.
Futures advanced as much as 1.3 percent after the Institute for Supply Management’s U.S. factory index climbed to 57 in December, the fastest pace in seven months. Fuel demand increased to the highest since May 2008 in the week ended Dec. 24, Energy Department figures showed last week.
“Oil looks like one of the best investments of 2011,” said Carl Larry, president of Oil Outlooks & Opinions LLC in Houston. “Investors want to get in fast and get in early. Any way you look at it oil is going to be in demand this year.”
Crude oil for February delivery rose 95 cents, or 1 percent, to $92.33 a barrel at 11:07 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract reached $92.58, the highest price since Oct. 7, 2008. Futures climbed 15 percent in 2010, Bloomberg said.
In its survey, AAA found prices in Rhode Island ranging from $3.05 to $3.29 per gallon for unleaded regular.
A year ago, gas prices in Rhode Island were $2.66 per gallon, 49 cents lower than today’s average.
At stations in Rhode Island this week, the survey found average self-serve prices of $3.27 per gallon for midgrade unleaded, $3.37 for premium unleaded gasoline, and $3.35 for diesel.
In Massachusetts, gas prices rose 3 cents to $3.06.
For more information, visit AAA.com
