Petrojam raised the price of gasoline last week, pushing up the cost that retailers were paying for the fuel by nearly four per cent and driving up gas prices by nearly eight per cent over the last month.

But the increase in the price of the fuel since the start of the year - 13.6 per cent - has been running behind the increase in prices for the precious input, crude oil, and the benchmark Gulf Coast reference prices which guides the state refinery's pricing mechanism.

The price of the OPEC weekly basket, which includes Venezuelan oil, as at last week was 31.2 per cent higher than it started the year, while the average price of Gulf Coast regular conventional retail gasoline stood at US$3.619 a gallon, up 21 per cent since the start of the year.
Even though Petrojam may be able to offset increases to the gas price over the short-term, the continued increase in both input cost and benchmark prices are likely to continue driving the price of gasoline sold to retailers.
This week, Gulf Coast prices went up by nearly two per cent, while the increase in oil prices in general continue to run unabated.
Crude prices spiked to yet another trading high yesterday as supply concerns mounted and traders poured in for a last-minute buying binge.

The June contract for light, sweet crude traded as high as US$129.60 on the New York Mercantile Exchange before settling at US$129.07, up US$2.02 from Monday's record high. The expiration of that contract, which ended with the close of Tuesday's trading, created additional volatility as traders scrambled to lock in positions.

It was the 10th time in the last 12 sessions crude prices have hit trading or closing records, if not both.

The July contract, meanwhile, hit its own new high, trading up to US$129.29. It will become what traders call the front-month contract on Wednesday.

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