Oil Prices Plunge, Gas Prices Still Rising

The horrific disaster in Japan, and still unfolding nuclear crisis, has sent oil prices spiraling downward on world markets. Japan, a huge oil importer, will likely require much less until it begins to recover from the devastating earthquake and tsunami.

Crude oil for April delivery fell another $2.50 at the New York Mercantile Exchange today, and is now well below the $100 a barrel mark. Brent crude, the more expensive oil used mostly in Europe, is trading at around $110 a barrel, down about $10 from last week.

But despite the falling oil prices, gasoline prices have yet to follow. The national average price of self-serve regular today is $3.556 a gallon, according to AAA, up four cents a gallon from last week. The price is a fraction of a cent lower than yesterday's average.

In fact, the price is up more than a dime a gallon in Hawaii, the state with the most expensive fuel. The AAA Fuel Gauge Survey shows the average price of self-serve regular in Hawaii has eclipsed the $4 a gallon mark, to $4.016 a gallon. It was $4.896 a week ago.

Even Wyoming, the state with the cheapest average gas, has seen an eight-cent surge in its average in the last seven days.

Analysts say supply and demand was never a factor in the recent price run-up. Rather, oil traders were concerned that political violence in the Middle East could spread, perhaps eventually threatening the flow of oil to the West.