Heating oil, gasoline prices continue rise

Heating oil jumped another 13 cents a gallon in the week ended Monday and regular gasoline rose an extra 16.5 cents in the past week as fears of shortages from political turmoil in Libya and the Middle East sent crude oil and fuels futures still higher in U.S. and European commodities trading.

The higher futures prices, partly also the result of growing demand as world economies recover from the recession, have raised the value of -- and prices of -- products down the distribution chain.

Heating oil from full-service dealers averaged $3.94 a gallon on Monday, the state Energy Research and Development Authority said -- the highest since Sept. 29, 2008. Regular gasoline averaged $3.621 a gallon in Nassau and Suffolk, the AAA said -- the highest it's ever been at this time of year, though still well short of the record of $4.346 in July 2008.

In New York trading Wednesday, crude oil jumped $2.60 to $102.23 a barrel, which Bloomberg said was the highest settlement since Sept. 26, 2008. Oil is about $20 a barrel higher than a year ago.

"The underlying fear is still that the current unrest will -- or has already started to -- spread to other countries," Connecticut-based petroleum consultant Peter Beutel told his clients in a bulletin Wednesday.

The Middle East and North Africa supply about 30 percent of the world's oil. John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital Llc, a New York-based hedge fund specializing in energy, said reports Wednesday that Moammar Gadhafi's planes dropped bombs on rebels near petroleum facilities in Libya was a major impetus for Wednesday's jump.

"The situation has clearly worsened," he said. Last week, he said, it seemed as if oil infrastructure would be safe. He thinks crude oil could reach $110 and prices for gasoline at U.S. pumps could rise by another 15 or 20 cents a gallon -- in both cases by the weekend.

Nationally, gasoline prices have been rising in the past week at the fastest pace since Labor Day weekend 2005, when Hurricane Katrina shut down much of the U.S. Gulf Coast's oil facilities.

The website longislandgasprices.com, whose information is based on motorist reports, said prices Wednesday afternoon for regular ranged as high as $3.99 at a Shell station in Commack and a Mobil station in Shirley.

Prices on the rise

Heating oil

(Per gallon at full-service dealers)

Monday: $3.94

Feb. 21: $3.811

Year ago: $3.057

Gasoline

(Gallon of regular)

Yesterday: $3.621

Week ago: $3.456

Year ago: $2.863

Sources: AAA; New York State Energy Research and Development Authority