SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- Crude oil futures prices reached a new record today, closing near $88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as retail gas prices remain above $3 a gallon.
The price of crude for November delivery rose $1.48 to settle at $87.61 a barrel, a record energy analysts predict will be reflected at the pump.
“It means that we're facing high gasoline prices and potentially high prices of other oil-based commodities for a good while to come,” said Severin Borenstein, director of the University of California Energy Institute.
The best predictions he said, were that crude oil prices would eventually drift back down, “but not quickly.”
He noted that adjusting for inflation, oil prices were actually higher in the late 70's and the early 80's when the energy crisis pushed prices to over $100 in today's money.
The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded in California is $3.07, up 20 cents compared to last September, according to a report released today by AAA.
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KCBS's Margie Shafer reports
