THE price of petrol is to rise for a fourth-straight week, taking them deeper into record territory on the back of recent price increases in the US Gulf which has been influenced by a tight supply situation.

Tight supplies pushed the price of Brent crude futures up $o.77, or 0.9 per cent, to $91.55 a barrel at the close of trading on Wednesday. US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) ended up $0.30 to $89.66 a barrel.

Petrojam cited in a release on Wednesday that the tight supply situation has been created by geopolitical tensions.

“The concern that Russia will react to potential western sanctions, by withholding crude oil from the already tight global market, have placed heavy upward pressure on oil prices, which has in turn impacted pump prices,” Petrojam said in notes accompanying its weekly price release. Western sanctions are said to be possible if Russia invades Ukraine, it continued.

For ordinary Jamaicans, the situation has pushed up the ex-refinery prices of gasoline by $3.06 per litre, taking it to the highest level it has ever been at $177.84 for 87 and $182.85 for 90 gasoline. Both grades of the fuel are up $12.00 or 7.8 per cent since the start of the year.

The price of automotive diesel oil is up set to rise by $4.50 while low-sulphur diesel goes up by $3.06. The increases take both to record prices as well. The ex-refinery price for automotive diesel oil is now $179.16 while for low sulphur diesel it is $183.66.

Kerosene goes up by $3.06 to $153.76 and propane increases by $0.41 to $76.60. Butane is the only consumer petroleum product to buck the trend, going down $0.25 to $86.14.

In the US, the issues are the same. While in Jamaica prices are at record highs, prices in the US are at eight-year highs. The average price of a gallon of gas hit US$3.47 on Wednesday, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), a jump of $0.08 from the previous week. US gas prices this week are at their highest since October 2014, according to the US Energy Department.