NEW YORK — With Libya still in chaos and little information available about the status of its oil fields and ports, oil prices rose Friday and finished about 13 percent higher for the week.
The surge in oil, which peaked at $103.41 a barrel for benchmark crude on Thursday, hit drivers across the U.S., where gas-pump prices are already the highest ever for this time of year. A gallon of regular shot up 11.6 cents in the past three days to a national average of $3.29, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. That includes a spike of nearly 6 cents on Friday, the largest one-day increase since Sept. 14, 2008.
In Denver, prices spiked more than 4 cents a gallon Friday to $3.089, from $3.046 on Thursday. Since last Friday, prices have risen 11.3 cents.
“Everyone’s a nervous wreck,” PFGBest analyst Phil Flynn said. “What we’re seeing is perhaps the greatest threat to global oil supply since the Persian Gulf War.”
Oil for April delivery wavered in a volatile trading day Friday before settling 60 cents higher at $97.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The Libyan rebellion has all but shut down exports from there, and traders say it’s hard to gauge how much world supplies — and prices — will be affected as similar uprisings unfold in North Africa and the Middle East. Analyst Stephen Schork said traders have already priced in a “fear premium” of about $15 to $20 a barrel, but that premium could increase as political instability continues.
