Cold climates propel fuel prices upward

NEW YORK — Here’s an inconvenient truth Al Gore might want to take note of:

Cold weather around the world is being blamed for escalating global diesel prices.

Cold weather mainly across North America and Europe is increasing demand for home heating oil, which, like diesel fuel, is a No. 2 distillate.

According to JPMorgan, cold weather is also expected to hit central and eastern Asia, pushing prices even higher.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery settled at just under $89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday.

In the U.S. the average price for a gallon of diesel rose 1.7 cents to $3.248 at the pump – the fourth increase in the last six weeks — according to the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration.

Diesel in the U.S. is about 52.2 cents a gallon higher than this time last year.

The Canadian average sits at about $1.12 a liter, which is more or less where diesel prices in southern Ontario are.

Prices in St. Johns are averaging about $1.21 a liter, while it southern Alberta, prices hover around a buck-two.