This is from CBS news today:

Oil prices rose further above the $60 a barrel mark Thursday after a U.S. government report showed larger-than-expected drops in gasoline and heating oil inventories last week.

Traders also kept an eye on developments in the Middle East, where tensions are escalating between Western powers and Iran over the nation’s nuclear program.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery rose 30 cents to $60.37 a barrel in morning trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Crude inventories rose by 3.7 million barrels to 327.6 million barrels in the week ending Feb. 16, the Energy Information Administration said Thursday. But gasoline inventories fell by 3.1 million barrels to 222.1 million barrels, and distillates, which include heating oil and diesel, fell by 5.0 million barrels to 128.3 million barrels. Most of the drop in distillates was due to diminishing heating oil supplies.

Analysts were expecting, on average, a modest rise in crude oil and gasoline inventories and a smaller drop in distillates.

And this from AOL Money & Finance:

All in all we are looking at the perfect storm for rising oil prices. Should oil settle above $60 today we may have seen the last of $50 oil for the foreseeable future.

And this from the Detroit News:

The steady climb to higher spring gasoline prices is under way and a repeat of last year’s $3 a gallon is a strong possibility.

The average price for a gallon of regular in Metro Detroit reached $2.28 Monday, according to AAA Michigan. That’s up 38 cents from a month ago and the highest price at the pump since Dec. 4.

With gas prices promising to hit $3 per gallon, I think I’ve missed my window to sell my SUV. More important, none of the sources I’ve read has given me any hope for lower oil prices in the near future.

I’ve started keeping tabs on oil prices because I’m concerned that rising prices will change my standard of living but to be honest, I was thinking it wouldn’t happen for a few years. Today’s rise is cause for concern even though I know it’s the overall picture that is most alarming.

Just a little food for thought.