Gas prices jump in Philadelphia and NJ
Drivers filling up at the pump may have noticed an increase over the weekend. The average price jumped 7 cents in the Philadelphia area, and 11 cents in South Jersey.
Drivers filling up at the pump may have noticed an increase over the weekend. The average price jumped 7 cents in the Philadelphia area, and 11 cents in South Jersey.
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AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesperson Cathy Rossi says there are four reasons why prices jumped, to an average of $2 dollars and 54 cents in the Philadelphia region.
Rossi: The price of crude oil, which is higher, the economy which is getting better, the dollar which is weaker, and the cold which is convincing investors that a colder winter may be in store and that could mean more demand for heating oil and other energy stocks.
Rossi says that doesn’t mean the prices will continue to rise dramatically.
Fred Murphy is a professor at Temple University’s Fox School of Business. Murphy says the economic downturn has taken a toll on refineries, which has kept gas prices down.
Murphy: We have not really faced in the gasoline price the effect of rising crude oil as much as normal simply because the refinery margins have absolutely collapsed.
Murphy says as the world pulls out of the recession, crude prices could rise.
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