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Following a report of lower-than-expected U.S. gasoline inventories, crude oil hit a record high of $56.35 per barrel today.
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The surge came despite an earlier report that OPEC ministers have agreed to increase production by a half-million barrels a day and will boost output further if need.
The price for April delivery was up $1.30 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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Prices have risen 50 percent in the past year. The previous intraday high, in October, was $55.67.
However, adjusting for inflation, futures would need to rise above $90 a barrel to top the high-mark in 1980.
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In New York, gasoline for April delivery rose 3.47 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $1.542 a gallon, about 37 percent higher than a year ago.
"I am concerned about the price of energy and what it means to the average American family when they see the price of gasoline going up,'' said President Bush at a news conference this morning in Washington.
"I think if you look at all the statistics, demand is outracing supply and supplies are getting tight. And that's why you're seeing the price reflected," Bush said.
The Energy Department's latest report showed inventories of gasoline and heating oil fell sharply last week, while crude supplies rose.
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OPEC officials indicated earlier the higher output would be implemented April 1, but a statement later said it would take effect "immediately."
At the gas pump, U.S. retail gasoline prices have climbed to less than a cent from record highs, according to the motor group AAA.
A spokesman for AAA said it's likely the record will easily be eclipsed during the high-demand summer season.
Yesterday, the average price for regular gasoline was $2.048 per gallon, just short of the record of $2.054 set last May 26.
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Meanwhile, the Senate voted today to open the Alaska wildlife refuge to oil drilling, rejecting an attempt by Democrats to remove the provision from next year's budget
The 51-49 vote, assuming Congress agrees on a budget, clears the way for drilling later this year in the refuge, known as ANWR.
For more than two decades, the oil industry has sought access to the refuge's estimated billions of barrels of oil in the northeast corner of Alaska.
Environmentalists have opposed the move, arguing it would harm calving caribou, polar bears and migratory birds.
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