Phila.-area gas prices unchanged overnight

Today should be looking a lot like yesterday at the gas pumps, with averages going unchanged today.

A gallon of regular no-lead continued to cost $2.63 in the five-county Philadelphia area.

South Jersey's average maintained at $2.44, and the national average was still $2.63.

Diesel prices showed some movement: South Jersey's average was up 1 cent overnight, to $2.42, and the national average also was up 1 cent, to $2.54, but Philadelphia's diesel average was unchanged, at $2.72.

Meanwhile, oil prices hovered near $72 a barrel as investor optimism about a global economic recovery pushed crude to fresh highs for the year.

Oil has jumped from below $35 a barrel in March on expectations the worst of a severe U.S. recession was over. Traders are now beginning to price in a recovery and improving demand for crude by the end of the year.

Benchmark crude for July delivery rose as high as $72.18 a barrel and was up 55 cents to $71.88 by afternoon European time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Wednesday, it rose $1.32 to settle at $71.33.

The International Energy Agency added to investors' optimism, forecasting that the slump in global oil demand in 2009 would be slightly less severe than previously expected. The organization revised up its estimates for the first time in 10 months.