Oil finally hit $100 a barrel this week, a landmark price that world financial markets had long dreaded.   Two years ago, Goldman Sachs – the world’s largest trader of energy derivatives – had predicted such ’super-spiking, “a multi-year trading band of oil prices high enough to meaningfully reduce energy consumption and recreate a spare capacity cushion.”

At the pump, meanwhile, gas prices rose 0.6 cent Wednesday to a national average of $3.049 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Gas prices, which typically lag the futures market, have edged higher in recent days, following oil’s approach to $100.

Gas prices peaked at $3.227 a gallon in May, as refiners faced unprecedented maintenance issues and struggled to produce enough gasoline to meet demand. A similar scenario is expected this spring, when gas prices could peak above $3.40 a gallon, according to the Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration. [cnn.com]