Phila.-area gas prices near ’09 high

The average price of gas in the Philadelphia area went up again overnight, approaching the highest levels paid in all of last year, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic.

The average for Philadelphia and its four surrounding counties went up 1 cent, to $2.73 - which is only 1 cent shy of the $2.74 reached Nov. 2.

South Jersey's average went up 2 cents overnight, to $2.55, eclipsing the 2009 high of $2.54, reached June 20.

The national average was up 2 cents overnight, to $2.69, almost at last year's high of $2.70, reached Oct. 30.

Diesel prices also increased - by 2 cents across the board.

The Philly area's diesel average stood today at $3.06; South Jersey's was $2.75.

The national diesel average was up to $2.85.

Colorado ($2.50) and Wyoming ($2.46) are the only two states with an average price of $2.50 or less.

Alaska ($3.37) and Hawaii ($3.33 lead the high end of the list, with California ($3.02) the highest of the contiguous states.

Meanwhile, one of the worst winter blasts in years could not obscure the enormous amount of crude and gasoline the United States has in storage and most energy prices began to give way.

The first glimpse this year of supply and demand figures from the government revealed that the oil held in U.S. storage facilities is growing, stunning many energy experts who expected supplies to fall.

The amount of gasoline put into storage was triple what most analysts had forecast. One reason could be that it's been so cold, particularly in the Northeast, that fewer people are driving.

Last week, 3.7 million barrels of gasoline were put into storage.

Expectations that frigid temperatures and more optimistic consumers would add up to a strong rebound in demand faded.

Still, crude prices earlier today rose above $82 per barrel, a level that has not been seen since 2008. Oil has surged about 15 percent since mid-December.

After the weekly report from the Energy Information Administration surprised traders, benchmark crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped 26 cents to $81.51.

In other Nymex trading in February contracts, heating oil fell 2.12 cents to $2.1729 a gallon and gasoline slid 1.81 cents to $2.1069 a gallon. Natural gas futures rose 27.8 cents to $5.915.

In London, Brent crude for February delivery fell 45 cents to $80.14 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.