(H/T Insty)
Looks that way…
Via the Boston Herald:
Beleaguered Bay State drivers could be staring down the barrel of $5 a gallon gas in a matter of weeks, if the political firestorm raging in the Middle East keeps spreading to more oil-rich, autocratic nations, energy experts warned yesterday.
“Imagine what would happen if Saudi Arabia goes offline — $5-a-gallon gas is not out of the question,” Mark Williams, an energy risk expert at Boston University, told the Herald, noting that gas prices have already spiked 25 percent this year even though only a handful of small countries have slowed oil production.
Middle East watchers are keeping a nervous eye on the tightly controlled kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where there have been grumblings of discontent, including a reported Internet call for a “day of rage” next week in the wake of bloody popular power struggles in Egypt and Libya, violently suppressed demonstrations in Bahrain and protests in Yemen.
“The major oil-producing countries have been largely untouched up to now,” said Jonathan Haughton, an economics professor at Suffolk University. “The country to watch is Saudi Arabia. If political disruption occurs there, then we’re talking $5.”
Bay State gas prices hit an all-time high in the summer of 2008 at $4.11. But in the past week, prices have jumped a whopping 17 cents to an average of $3.30 for self-serve regular, according to AAA Southern New England.
Mary McGuire of AAA Southern New England said the political disruptions in the Middle East and North Africa are definitely driving oil prices up. “Oil markets do not like instability and uncertainty,” she said. “And we have both in play in Libya, North Africa and the Middle East, because there is concern the political turmoil will spread to other more key oil-producing nations.”
This will continue as long as the Obama Administration continues to BLOCK drilling attempts. Again, more prayer please.