Gas prices are up 19 percent this year, but futures fell 4.7 percent in the month of May alone due to decreased anxiety that Mississippi River flooding would upset oil-refinery operations and as manufacturing in the New York region expanded at a slower pace while the cost of raw materials skyrocketed. Prices for June delivery settled at $2.9311 a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest settlement since March 16. The price of gasoline reached an intraday peak at $3.48 on April 29, the highest it has been since July 14, 2008. AAA confirmed on its website that regular retail gas prices dropped 0.6 cent to $3.995 a gallon Sunday, but that they are still 38 percent higher than a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News estimated that U.S. gasoline inventories likely rose for a second straight week, gaining 1 million barrels in the period ending May 13.
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