U.S. gasoline at the pump may rise 13 percent by May as crude oil in New York tops $100 a barrel and a recovering economy boosts fuel demand, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.
The highest price for regular gasoline this year will be $3.50 a gallon, based on the median estimate of 14 analysts. The motor fuel hasn’t reached that level since Oct. 6, 2008, according to AAA, the nation’s largest motoring organization.
“Gasoline prices could spike to $3.40 to $3.50,” said Amrita Sen, a commodity analyst at Barclays Capital in London. “We’re impressed at how well demand has held up at these prices. If crude goes up, it would be difficult to see gasoline not go up.”
New York oil may top $100 a barrel this year, Barclays and other analysts say, as global demand growth accelerates. U.S. fuel use over the past four weeks was 1.6 percent higher than a year earlier, according to the Energy Department. U.S. gross domestic product may grow 3.1 percent in 2011, according to the median of 71 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. China, the world’s largest energy consumer, may expand 9.5 percent.
March-delivery crude futures settled at $90.77 a barrel yesterday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while March- delivery gasoline closed at $2.5194 a gallon. Brent oil on ICE Futures Europe rose above $100 on Jan. 31 for the first time since September 2008.
Worldwide oil demand may grow in 2011 by as much as 1.8 million barrels a day, or 2 percent, Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said in a speech in Riyadh Jan. 24.
The highest price for regular gasoline this year will be $3.50 a gallon, based on the median estimate of 14 analysts. The motor fuel hasn’t reached that level since Oct. 6, 2008, according to AAA, the nation’s largest motoring organization.
New York oil may top $100 a barrel this year, Barclays and other analysts say, as global demand growth accelerates. U.S. fuel use over the past four weeks was 1.6 percent higher than a year earlier, according to the Energy Department. U.S. gross domestic product may grow 3.1 percent in 2011, according to the median of 71 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. China, the world’s largest energy consumer, may expand 9.5 percent.
March-delivery crude futures settled at $90.77 a barrel yesterday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while March- delivery gasoline closed at $2.5194 a gallon. Brent oil on ICE Futures Europe rose above $100 on Jan. 31 for the first time since September 2008.
Worldwide oil demand may grow in 2011 by as much as 1.8 million barrels a day, or 2 percent, Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said in a speech in Riyadh Jan. 24.
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