The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline topped $2.72 Friday, $1 a gallon more than a year ago and the highest level in 15 months, auto club AAA says.

Crude oil prices, up 12% in the past month, dipped slightly Thursday to $82.66 a barrel.

The run-up is being driven by investors pouring into oil-backed assets and commodities, including natural gas, energy analysts say. “This is being driven by the money flow,” says Tom Kloza, analyst with the Oil Price Information Service. Cold weather has also spurred demand for natural gas, which heats 52% of U.S. homes, and heating oil, which is heavily used in the Northeast.

Higher costs will “provide formidable speed bumps” for the strengthening economy, Kloza says. He expects gasoline to hit $2.75 a gallon before drifting lower and rallying to $3 a gallon in the spring. Whether prices will stay there is unclear because demand is expected to be flat with last year. Refining capacity could also quickly come online. Still, Kloza expects gas to run 75 cents to a $1 more a gallon for much of this year over last year.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2010-01-07-gasoline-prices_N.htm