Events in Libya prompted crude oil prices to clime to a near-30-month high Wednesday as concern mounted that attacks on Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi's troops, as well as protest in Syria, would disrupt oil supplies.
In reality, analysts say, oil inventories are still fine; it's fear that is driving oil futures up. Crude oil for May delivery rose to $105.75 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement since Sept. 2008. That's a 29-percent increase over the past year.
One Chicago-based oil industry analyst, Phil Flynn with PFGBest, has been quoted as saying we could see the price of oil go to $150 a barrel and gasoline toward $5 a barrel.
