Phila.-area gas average up 1 cent to $3.21
The average for a gallon of gas has gone up overnight by 1 cent in the five-county Philadelphia area (to $3.21), in South Jersey (to $3.01), and in the nation overall (to $3.11), according to figures from AAA Mid-Atlantic.
The average for a gallon of gas has gone up overnight by 1 cent in the five-county Philadelphia area (to $3.21), in South Jersey (to $3.01), and in the nation overall (to $3.11), according to figures from AAA Mid-Atlantic.
The national average for diesel was up 1 cent today (to $3.40), but was unchanged in the Philly area ($3.61) and in South Jersey ($3.31).
Meanwhile, oil prices rose to near $92 a barrel, underpinned by a weaker dollar and increases to demand forecasts for this year.
At early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for February delivery was up 56 cents at $91.94 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract, which expires this week, fell 16 cents to settle at $91.38 on Tuesday.
The euro and yen gained against the dollar, making crude less expensive for buyers holding those currencies.
The previous day the dollar fell to a one-month low against the euro as investors believe European officials will soon bolster the region's plans for countering its debt crisis.
Also supporting oil were higher demand forecasts released over the last two days from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and the International Energy Agency.
The Paris-based IEA predicts oil demand this year will rise to 89.1 million barrels a day, up from 87.7 million barrels a day in 2010. Last month the IEA forecast 2011 oil demand would hit 88.8 million barrels a day.
Markets were also awaiting the release of data on U.S. oil inventories, coming a day later than usual because of Martin Luther King's Birthday.
The American Petroleum Institute will release its report on oil stocks later Wednesday, while the report from the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration - the market benchmark - will be out on Thursday.
Data for the week ending Jan. 14 is expected to show draws of 2.2 million barrels in crude oil stocks and a rise of 2.8 million barrels in gasoline stocks, according to a survey of analysts by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
In other Nymex trading in February contracts, heating oil rose 2.09 cents to $2.6668 a gallon and gasoline was up 1.75 cents at $2.4967 a gallon. Natural gas added 3.7 cents to $4.462 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude was up 56 cents at $98.36 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Brent's movements near $100 "might attract some momentum traders that want to print the magic number, but we still do not see how the European crude oil market will be able to sustain the current premium to other regions," said a report from Commerzbank in Frankfurt.