In fact, costs are soaring for many forms of consumer energy. Natural gas is up 30 percent in two years.
Gasoline is at a nine-year high.
Home heating oil is up 133 percent in just five weeks. The agreement expires next month at which time OPEC is expected to announce whether it will continue the lower production policy that has driven up the cost of crude oil. The increase could be as much as 2 million barrels per day, based on the International Energy Agency's estimate of the gap between world consumption and output in the first quarter, he said. Still, Streifel cautions it is also possible that OPEC will decide not to increase production. While concerned about rising energy prices, the Clinton administration says it has no plans to release crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.