Oil nears $60

In the immortal words of Ricky Ricardo, "Wha Haapened?" Well, the weather got nasty back East, which increases demand in a hurry (the next 10 days are supposed to be the coldest of the season in the Northeast). But it's not just that. OPEC is cutting production and Venezuela, the fourth-biggest source of U.S. oil imports, is taking control of several joint oil projects. President Hugo Chavez, everybody's favorite socialist dictator, has told the American oil companies that if they don't like it they can leave. Nice. Oil finished Friday at $59.02 a barrel, the highest close in more than a month. It had fallen below $50 on Jan. 18. Between higher oil prices and California refineries switching to the more expensive summer blends, expect gas to cost considerably more over the next few weeks.