Micheal Clements, NAFB News Service

The national average gas price continues to march higher for the sixth conservative week, gaining 4.3 centers per gallon to $2.02, according to GasBuddy. The average price of diesel rose 0.1 cents to $2.41 per gallon over the same period. Patrick De Haan of GasBuddy attributes the trend to increased demand as Americans return to the roadways, and OPEC extending its large oil production cuts until at least July.  De Haan says, “The anxiety pushing oil prices up is coming from the fact that the economy may be recovering quicker than most anticipated.” Crude oil prices continued to rally over the last week on positive economic data. Optimism has played a key role in boosting oil prices. OPEC has extended production cuts for now while demand continues to rally globally. However, Saudi Arabia reminded the market it may not hold its most severe production cuts beyond June to keep oil’s rally in check and likely in hopes of holding off a return of U.S. oil production.