Aaa gas prices

Fuel prices may steal the spotlight from steel soon.

the Energy Information Administration reported that the national average retail price for gasoline set a record of $1.80 per gallon, up 29 cents in the 15 weeks since touching bottom on December 15, according to Ken Simonson, Chief Economist, Associated General Contractors of America.

On-highway diesel averaged $1.64, up 17 cents since December. The Lundberg Survey and AAA also have been reporting record gasoline prices. The price of crude oil has been flirting with the high it set at the beginning of the Iraq war a year ago. With world economic activity now at a much higher level, it appears unlikely that petroleum prices will retreat soon. These prices affect contractors directly through the cost of asphalt, operation of diesel-powered equipment and trucks, and delivery costs.