“We are at the highest fuel prices ever for this time of year, even though they have dropped a bit in recent weeks,” said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst for the Oil Price Information Service. “I think we will see prices in 2012 that will break … records.”
A combination of growing global demand and rising U.S. fuel exports could send gasoline prices to record highs in 2012, according to industry analysts. Those factors have been pushing pump prices to historically high levels since the beginning of September, and the approaching holiday weekend is expected to present a painful roadside example by breaking the old record for late November — set in 2007 — by 10% or more nationally and in California.