Oil, Oil Everywhere

Oil, Oil Everywhere

By Jeffrey Kleintop, CFA

For the third year in a row, the summer driving season kicked off with national gasoline prices at $3.67 per gallon, according to data from the U.S. Department of Energy. Prices at the pump are below the $3.80 – $4.00 danger zone where they contributed to economic soft spots in 2011 and 2012. But they may head higher with crude oil prices rising over $104 last week — well above the levels seen around Memorial Day weekend during the past couple of years. While the conflict in Ukraine may be fueling some of the price gain, this is nothing new — a year ago the world was focused on the conflict in Egypt, and...