Rising oil prices reflected in rising gas prices
Gas prices jumped again Wednesday, continuing a surge that's directly linked to oil prices.
Auto club AAA said the average price for regular in Wisconsin went up 4.2 cents to $3.668 a gallon on Wednesday, 24 cents more than just a week ago.
Madison drivers saw prices go from $3.69 Tuesday morning to $3.79 in the afternoon at many stations in the metro area.
AAA said the average here on Wednesday is $3.708 a gallon, up 35 cents in seven days.
Madisongasprices.com said the price range for a gallon of regular is $3.55 to $3.79 on Wednesday.
Oil is the culprit, according to this article http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/28/markets/gas_price_rise/?source=cnn_bin online.
Oil has gone up 52 cents a gallon in two months, almost mirroring the 47 cent hike in gas in the same time frame. Oil accounts for 70 percent of the cost of a gallon of gas.
The national average for regular is $3.731 a gallon, while the average was $3.375 a gallon a year ago.
BP Refinery fire could boost gas prices in Wash.
SEATTLE — The longer the BP Cherry Point refinery at Blaine is out of service because of fire damage, the higher gasoline prices will go for drivers in Washington state, said Tim Hamilton, executive director of the Automotive United Trades Organization, an association of independent dealers.Wholesale prices to dealers went up about 20 cents a gallon Tuesday, Hamilton said. That will push prices in Washington close to $4 a gallon, Hamilton said Wednesday.
"This tells us the oil companies are not all that confident they'll be able to get Cherry Point up that fast," Hamilton said. "We don't know for certain."
The average price for a gallon of gas Wednesday in the state was $3.68 a gallon, according to the AAA auto club. That's already up 14 cents in a week and 21 cents in a month.
"Shutdowns can push prices up," said AAA spokeswoman Jennifer Cook in Bellevue. "That was already going on. This fire is going to add to it."
Four other refineries in
