Hot Summer

Crude-oil futures jumped 6.5% last week alone.

OIL PRICES ARE SURGING again, topping $46 a barrel on Nymex despite OPEC's assurance to keep the spigots wide open. After the September contract hit a peak of $49.40 on Aug. 20, oil tumbled toward $40 as speculators such as hedge funds withdrew bets. But major concerns -- increased consumption in China, fading inventories in the U.S., and worries about terror and the stability of Yukos -- have kept prices juiced. The final jolt came last week when Hurricane Ivan brushed major oil facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, disrupting some production. Still, oil has a ways to go before reaching its inflation-adjusted high: In 1980, after the Iranian revolution, crude averaged about $80 a barrel in today's dollars.