Hot dogs, hamburgers, $3 gas and now crude at $70 a barrel — the list of heartburn-inducing items on the menu this Fourth of July holiday keeps getting longer.

And keep the antacid handy, because things could get worse before they get better.


...Crude prices are rising on concerns that U.S. refineries, racked with outages this year, are not keeping pace with the nation's gasoline habit. The point was brought home Wednesday in an Energy Department report showing lower-than-expected gasoline supplies even as more refineries came back online — and just as millions of Americans hit the road for the holiday weekend.

Lower oil production from Nigeria and faster-than-expected global energy demand are also contributing, said Mary Novak, industry analyst with Global Insight, a consultant in Lexington, Mass.