Gas Prices Fall to Eight-Week Low

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.