Oil per barrel nears $150 mark

NEW YORK — Less than a day after setting a record price of $143 a barrel, crude oil jumped nearly three more dollars this morning before trading began, according to the Associated Press.

The price opened at $145.85 on the New York Mercantile Exchange today.

The worldwide cost of oil has risen by more than 50 percent since the start of 2008.

The US Department of Energy said this week that oil supplies plunged by 2 million barrels last week — a drop of 800,000 barrels more than analysts predicted.

Many truckers in Canada in the US fear they’re
running close to empty thanks to fuel costs.

Distillate inventories, however, which includes diesel, rose by 1.3 million barrels.

Still, there has been little relief in the cost of diesel in North America.

In Canada, the national average reached $1.45 per liter this week.

As usual, prices remain highest in remote Atlantic regions. Some cities of Newfoundland and Labrador have seen pump prices as high as $1.70 a liter.

In southern Ontario, diesel prices have risen to around $1.45, while in Southern Alberta — traditionally the cheapest place to buy fuel in Canada — has had steady prices of around $1.35.