Energy Sector Roundup: Oil, retail gas edge up to new highs

Oil prices, gas at the pump rise to new records

Oil prices rose to a new settlement high after a bumpy day of trading, and gas prices at the pump climbed nearly 3 cents overnight to a new national record.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery rose 16 cents to reach a settlement record of $123.69 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after trading lower for much of the day, and not surpassing the previous day's trading record of $123.93.

Retail gasoline prices rose 2.7 cents to a record $3.645, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Diesel prices also rose, adding 0.9 cent to match a record national average of $4.251 a gallon.

In other Nymex trading, June gasoline futures rose 1.96 cents to settle at a record $3.1378 a gallon after earlier rising to a trading record of $3.14, and June heating oil futures rose 6.25 cents to settle at a record $3.5098 a gallon after earlier reaching a trading record of $3.5152. Natural gas futures fell 6.4 cents to settle at $11.263 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Oil companies settle MTBE claims

Several major oil companies agreed to a multimillion dollar deal to settle lawsuits surrounding their use of the gasoline additive MTBE, a potential carcinogen that has been found in drinking water.

Companies including BP PLC's BP America Inc., Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips, Royal Dutch Shell PLC's Shell Oil Co., Marathon Oil Corp. and Valero Energy Corp. agreed to pay a total of $422 million to settle the claims brought by 153 public water systems.

The agreement also calls for the companies to pay 70 percent of cleanup costs for wells contaminated by MTBE over the next 30 years, suggesting the total payout could rise, said Scott Summy, an attorney representing water systems in 17 states.