Oil Prices

Gasoline prices are keeping up their record-setting ways. California drivers paid an average of $4.358 for a gallon of regular gasoline, up 6.6 cents from a week earlier, the Energy Department said Monday. That's a fresh record high for this time of year and is 48.4 cents above the year-earlier price. Nationally, the average rose 7.2 cents to $3.793, also a record for this week, according to Energy Department statistics. A year earlier, the average U.S. price was 27.3 cents lower.

NEW YORK -- Stock markets opened sharply lower on Wall Street, continuing a slide in the face of continued political and economic turmoil in Europe. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 101 points, or 0.8%, to 12,831 in early trading. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 12.9 points, or 1%, to 1,351. The technology-heavy Nasdaq gave back 6 points, or 1%, to 607. Investors also sold positions in commodities, a sign of perceived weakening demand. Oil prices continued to slide, with the price of crude dropping $1.06, or 1.1%, to $95.95 a barrel.

The biggest repercussions from Hurricane Gustav's brush with the Gulf Coast oil complex played out in energy markets Tuesday instead of at refineries and oil rigs, as reports trickled in that damage to key facilities was mostly minor and oil prices plunged below $110 a barrel in response. Teams of oil industry and government employees fanned out across the region, inspecting shut-down refineries responsible for more than 10% of the nation's gasoline production and boarding helicopters and planes to fly over oil platforms that account for 25% of U.S. oil output.

California's streak of seven straight weeks of gasoline price declines has ended because of widespread refinery maintenance shutdowns that have reduced fuel supplies by nearly a third compared with a year ago. In California, the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline was $4.213 a gallon, up 2.7 cents from a week earlier, according to the Energy Department's weekly survey of service stations, released Monday. The U.S. average continued to fall, dropping 4 cents to $3.790 a gallon, the Energy Department survey showed.

World oil prices are rising sharply as violence spreads through Libya, the first major petroleum exporter to be threatened by unrest sweeping North Africa and the Mideast. As fears mounted that soaring energy costs could derail the global economic recovery, the benchmark price of crude in London on Monday surged $5.48, or more than 5%, to $108.20 a barrel, its highest level since September 2008. The rise knocked European stock markets sharply lower. U.S. oil prices also jumped, hitting $91.42 a barrel in electronic trading on a day when most U.S. financial markets were closed for the Presidents Day holiday.

The smoke rising from more than 150 flaming Kuwaiti oil wells is darkening more than the desert horizon: It is casting a pall over the emirate's prospects of resuming oil production at pre-invasion levels any time in the near future. Analysts believe that the damage to the wells may significantly impair Kuwait's ability to pump oil for months or years once the war ends. Already the destruction is "massive," said Ole Bjerregaard, a spokesman for Kuwait Petroleum International in London.

Some broadcast and cable programs contain material included in the public school curriculum and on standardized examinations. Here are home-viewing tips: Today--"48 Hours" (KCBS 8-9 p.m.) Report on the cultural conflict that arose when a U.S. Marine on duty in the Persian Gulf was betrothed to a member of Bahrain's royal family, putting both their lives in peril. Also, "Flashback: The Quest For Gold" (TLC 9-10 p.m.) Historical documentary about gold-seekers in Africa covers ancient Egypt, King Solomon's marriage to the Queen of Sheba and the founding of the Palace of Great Zimbabwe.

The pain at the pump can be felt in China too. The government on Tuesday raised retail prices for gasoline and diesel fuel for the second time in less than six weeks in an attempt to keep pace with soaring crude oil prices. Chinese motorists are now paying $4.43 a gallon for 90-octane fuel — nearly equal to the $4.45-a-gallon average for mid-grade fuel in California, according to AAA. In contrast with the U.S., retail pump prices in China are set by central authorities, in part to maintain social stability.

With little attention or sympathy from the American public, much of the U.S. oil industry is packing it in and moving overseas. Few sectors of the economy have faced a more wrenching adjustment during a period of fundamental economic change than the domestic oil business. Some statistics from the American Petroleum Institute tell the story: * More than half the 754,500 jobs in U.S. exploration and production that existed in 1982 are now gone. * Almost a third of 165,800 jobs in U.

You wouldn't like these odds in Las Vegas. As oil prices have surged amid the escalating turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa, Wall Street has been reminded of an inconvenient truth: All five U.S. recessions since 1973 either followed or coincided with a spike in energy costs. It's still early to be calling for a new recession this time around, but the $12 jump in crude prices this week has left every economic optimist at least somewhat unnerved. Since the brutal recession of 2008-09 officially ended, the U.S. economy has been struggling to gain enough momentum to reach "escape velocity," meaning a growth rate strong enough to become self-sustaining.

WASHINGTON - The nation's long, hard ride to recovery went off track in the spring: Job growth slowed for the second straight month, raising fresh fears about the underlying strength of the economy. In a disappointing development for President Obama's reelection campaign, employers added a modest 115,000 jobs in April, barely enough to keep up with the natural growth of the workforce. The unemployment rate inched down to 8.1% - not because more people got jobs but because more discouraged workers dropped out of the labor market.

Retail gasoline prices continued to fall nationally and in California over the last week, the Energy Department said. The U.S. average price for a gallon of regular gasoline fell 4 cents to $3.830, according to the Energy Department's weekly survey that was released Monday. The U.S. average hit its peak for the year of $3.941 a gallon on April 2 and has fallen for four straight weeks. A year earlier, U.S. drivers spent 5.1 cents more for a gallon of gas. In California, the average cost for a gallon of regular gasoline fell 1.7 cents to $4.186.

Chevron Corp. said first-quarter profit rose 4.2% as rising oil prices offset falling natural gas prices. Net income for the first three months of the year increased to $6.47 billion, or $3.27 a share, from $6.21 billion, or $3.09,a year earlier, the San Ramon, Calif., company reported Friday. Revenue for the world's third-largest publicly traded oil company rose to $60.71 billion, compared with $60.34 billion in the first quarter last year. The company's financial performance was hurt by a sharp year-to-year decline in natural gas prices, but that drop was more than offset by sharply higher oil prices.

Occidental Petroleum Corp., the nation's fourth-largest oil company, saw a slight increase in first-quarter profits compared to a year ago and set records in oil and natural gas production, the company said in a news release Thursday. The Westwood-based company said it generated a net profit of $1.56 billion in the first quarter, or $1.92 a share. That compared to the 2011 results of $1.55 billion and $1.90 a share. Sales jumped to $6.27 billion compared to $5.73 billion a year earlier.

WASHINGTON - Facing heat for high gasoline prices, President Obama tried to shift the focus to Congress, Republicans and energy traders, calling for legislation that he said would "put more cops on the beat" to crack down on potential manipulation of the oil market. Obama called on Congress to provide more money for regulators and increase penalties for market manipulators. The president, flanked by Treasury SecretaryTimothy F. Geithnerand Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr., suggested that traders and speculators are affecting the price of oil and digging into Americans' pocketbooks.

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve's latest report of regional economies paints a picture of a nation continuing to grow moderately, with car sales going strong, manufacturing adding to recent gains and the long-depressed housing market showing flickers of life. But throughout the county, many industries are feeling the pinch of higher oil prices, says the Fed's so-called beige book, released Wednesday. And some employers around the nation are having trouble finding qualified workers, especially to fill high-skilled jobs.

Crude oil on Monday reached its highest closing price since January on concern that oil producers might agree to hold back more production when they meet in Vienna this weekend. But the cost of a gas tank fill-up still provided a measure of relief in the midst of otherwise gloomy economic news. The average U.S. price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline climbed to $1.941, up 0.7 of a cent from the previous Monday, according to the Energy Department's weekly survey of filling stations.

Regarding "Hussein Threats Send Oil Prices to Record $38.25" (Sept. 25): Hussein has Bush over a barrel! MARY M. MOORE Van Nuys

WASHINGTON — The Senate blocked an effort to end billions of dollars in tax breaks for the oil industry, brushing aside President Obama's argument that the five big oil companies were doing "just fine" while consumers were struggling with painfully high gasoline prices. The measure to kill the industry tax preferences failed on a 51-47 procedural vote Thursday. It needed 60 votes to overcome a Republican-led filibuster that was supported by some Democrats from oil-rich states.

In an unusual but calculated political move, Senate Republicans declined to block a Democratic bill that would repeal tax breaks for oil companies --  choosing instead to launch a floor debate on the legislation as a way to showcase the Keystone XL pipeline and other GOP proposals aimed at curbing sky-high gas prices. Republican-led opposition will almost certainly defeat the bill on final passage later this week. But by allowing debate, the GOP hopes to harness voter angst over prices at the pump as a political weapon against President Obama's energy policies.