Gasoline futures in New York settled at a record high on Friday, three weeks before the start of the U.S. summer driving season. At $3.76 a gallon, the futures are at their highest level in data going back 1986. Moves in futures prices typically foreshadow those in pump prices, which are approaching the record set in early March, when U.S. banned Russian oil imports after it invaded Ukraine. Demand for fuel this summer is expected to exceed last year’s levels while supplies have fallen below pre-pandemic norms — a combination that could send prices even higher this summer. Costly gasoline is a key driver of inflation, squeezing consumers already faced with rising costs for housing and food. Efforts from the Biden administration to tame pump prices, including releasing oil from the country’s emergency reserves and allowing higher ethanol-blend fuel, have failed to halt gasoline’s upward trajectory. High gasoline prices […]