COLUMBUS, Ohio — After rising nearly every day for the past two months and climbing 67 percent so far this year, it looks like gasoline prices may be ready to take a break.
Gas prices were up nationally for a 54th straight day Sunday, by 0.1 cents, to a new national average of $2.693 a gallon, according to auto club AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service.
The streak should end today or Tuesday, Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst for the information service, said Sunday.
The Energy Information Administration reported that gasoline stockpiles grew last week by 3.4 million barrels, or 1.7 percent, much more than the 650,000 barrels that analysts had expected.
The bigger supply has pressured wholesale prices across the country, as demonstrated by a 10-cent drop to $1.93 a gallon Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices on the West Coast fell 27 cents last week to $1.931 a gallon and were down 15 cents to $1.94 in the Chicago area that serves the upper Midwest.
Those declines eventually will pass through to the consumer.
The question now is whether prices, which usually peak in the U.S. around the July 4th holiday, will backslide into the fall or if geopolitical problems in Iran and Nigeria will drive oil — and gasoline prices — even higher after a short dip.
D.C.: New detectors little better at catching nuke material
Federal investigators say the government’s next generation radiation detectors are only marginally better at detecting hidden nuclear material than monitors already at U.S. ports, but would cost more than twice as much, the Government Accountability Office said in a report to be released today. The machines are intended to prevent terrorists or criminals from smuggling into the U.S. a nuclear bomb or its explosive components hidden in a cargo container. The report raises the question whether the new machines, at about $822,000 each, are worth the cost if they’re not that much better than current ones that cost about $308,000.
Indiana: New NOW leader
The National Organization for Women elected Terry O’Neill, a 56-year-old Maryland resident, as the group’s next president during the group’s conference over the weekend in Indianapolis. NOW President Kim Gandy retires from NOW on July 20 after eight years as the group’s leader.
Massachusetts: Craigslist killing suspect indicted by grand jury
A former medical student accused of killing a 25-year-old masseuse he met through Craigslist has been indicted by a grand jury. Philip Markoff’s indictment on charges of first-degree murder and other crimes moves his case from district court to Superior Court in Boston, where he is scheduled to be arraigned today. He was indicted for the April 14 shooting of 25-year-old Julissa Brisman of New York, who advertised on the “exotic services” section of Craigslist at the Boston Marriott Copley Place hotel. He was also charged with the April 10 armed robbery of a 29-year-old Los Vegas woman at the Westin Copley Place hotel.
Mexico: Decriminalizing drugs
The Mexican legislature has voted quietly to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of pot and other drugs. The bill says users caught with five grams of marijuana or 500 milligrams of cocaine clearly intended for “personal and immediate use” will not be criminally prosecuted. As many as 40 milligrams of methamphetamine, a synthetic and especially harmful drug, are permitted, as are as many as 50 milligrams of heroin. The legislation awaits President Felipe Calderon’s signature.
Extra soldiers to Ciudad Juarez
Mexico has deployed 1,500 more troops to the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, where homicides related to the drug trade have surged in recent weeks. Drug-related killings in Ciudad Juarez declined to about one per day after the army sent about 5,000 troops there in March, bringing the number of soldiers patrolling the streets to about 7,000.
Portugal: Will take some detainees
Portugal will take in two or three Guantanamo detainees once they are released by the U.S. detention center, the foreign minister said Sunday. President Barack Obama has pledged to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center by early next year, and has asked European nations to accept some of the camp’s 229 detainees.
From Herald news services
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