Oil Update

With afternoon trading continuing, and the prospect of prices rising even higher in after-hours trading as they did yesterday, prices on futures of both Brent and light sweet crude are up, passing $78/barrel. Analysts are predicting prices to rise further, breaking $80/barrel under the combined pressure of events in the Middle East and Africa; another hurricane in the producing regions of the Gulf of Mexico could also cause a further spike in oil prices. Gas prices presently average $2.96 but are expected to rise.