Japan, Middle East Crises Push Up Oil, Gas Prices

Oil prices are solidly back over the $100 dollar per barrel. Political unrest in the Middle East has kept oil rising for the past months followed by concerns that Japan, the world’s third largest economy and a nation that imports 60 percent of its fuel, would be reducing its oil usage, knocked oil futures back down briefly last week. But Monday, oil futures for April rose by more than $1 hitting $102.96 a barrel in trading on Wall Street. With the developing situation in Libya, and demonstrations being staged in other oil producing nations in the region like Yemen and Syria as well, oil prices are particularly volatile.  Louise Story, Wall Street and Finance Reporter for The New York Times explains what analysts are calling “the uncertainty premium” and how this will affect you at the pump.