Reuters reports, "Gasoline is costing U.S. drivers a record $4.10 per gallon on average" as of Sunday.
News reports through the weekend focused on efforts to drive the price down, as Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer, held a summit of more than 30 oil-producing nations, focused on the global effects of skyrocketing oil prices. The Washington Post reported, "Analysts said Saudi Arabia was concerned about high oil prices because despite the cash windfall, they drive up inflation, hurt emerging economies and force countries to look for alternative fuel sources."
Prices rose steeply before the meeting, "As top officials prepared…to discuss rocketing fuel costs which are contributing to slower economic growth globally," according to AFP.
Some analysts believed the gathering would drive down prices. Trilby Lundberg, editor of the nationwide Lundberg survey of about 7,000 gas stations, told Reuters on Sunday "I suspect that oil prices have peaked and will flip further because" the Saudi government would increase production after the meeting, which "gives a strong chance that pump prices are peaking now, or may already have done so."
After the summit took place, world oil prices…rose.
At the meeting, Saudi Arabia committed to increase oil production in an attempt to stem price increases, but, another AFP report explains, "Experts said there were other sources of tension in the oil market counteracting the Saudi output hike." Among the concerns were violence in Nigeria and "worries about a possible Israeli military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities."
If a Saudi production boost can't cut prices, can anything bring relief at the pump?
U.S. politicians say they are trying. But USA Today reports, "Despite the flurry of bills being debated on Capitol Hill, Congress cannot control the global price of oil nor offer real help for beleaguered American drivers now or in the near future, analysts say. Many of the solutions lawmakers are proposing -- from drilling in the Alaskan wilderness to boosting the use of renewable energy -- would take years or even decades to have an impact."
Presidential candidates have promised attempts to drive the price down as well.
The New York Times reports, "Senator Barack Obama on Sunday proposed tightening the regulation of oil speculators in an effort to ease record high gasoline prices and address one of Americans' top concerns." But, "how large a role speculative investment plays in pushing up oil and other commodity prices is not entirely clear. While some analysts believe that large flows of money into largely unregulated exchanges have distorted markets and pushed up prices, most energy experts see no support for that theory."
Senator John McCain has countered with a proposal to increase offshore oil drilling in order to boost domestic supply, but the federal government itself says that would not help. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that "The U.S. Energy Information Administration predicted last year that if the moratorium [on offshore drilling] were lifted, it would take until 2012 to start leasing the areas and until 2017 before oil began to flow. The agency estimated that U.S. oil production would increase by 7 percent - about 200,000 barrels a day - by 2030, which it said would have an 'insignificant' impact on oil prices."
Since prices at the pump are apparently not going down anytime soon, research the most fuel-efficient small cars and hybrids with U.S. News' car rankings and reviews.
