Phila.-area gas prices up 1 cent

The price of gas in the region was up 1 cent overnight: to $2.49 in the five-county Philadelphia region and to $2.31 in South Jersey.

The national average was up 2 cents, to $2.45, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic.

The national's cheapest gas average today is in South Carolina, at $2.27. The most expensive was in Alaska ($2.74) and Hawaii ($2.74). The most expensive in the contiguous states was in California ($2.68).

In the diesel lanes, the average was up 1 cent in the Philly area, to $2.58; it was unchanged in South Jersey, at $2.21; and it was up 1 cent at the national level, to $2.34.

Meanwhile, oil prices jumped to a new six-month high as government reports showed that consumers are spending money and fewer people are requesting first-time unemployment benefits.

Benchmark crude for July delivery added $1.28 to reach $64.73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil fetched as much as $64.99 a barrel earlier in the day, the most since Nov. 10.

In London, Brent prices gained $1.30 to $63.80 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Despite the uptick in petroleum prices, U.S. energy consumption has dropped to its lowest level in a decade.

The Energy Information Administration said that U.S. storage facilities added 106 billion cubic feet of natural gas last week, putting the overall surplus well above the five-year average.

That's largely because manufacturers and other big industrial power users have been slashing production and cut jobs.

The lack of spending on energy over the past several months has meant growing supplies and lower prices, compared with last year.

A year ago, the national average for a gallon of regular no-lead was $3.94; it was $3.98 in the Philly area and $3.83 in South Jersey.