Diesel to Average $3.40 Through March, DOE Says
Monthly diesel fuel average prices will be at least $3.40 a gallon for the first three months of 2008 before tailing off later in the year to near $3, the Department of Energy said Tuesday.
Diesel fuel will average $3.41 in January, $3.40 in February and $3.41 in March, DOE said in its monthly short-term energy forecast.
Diesel will then gradually taper down from $3.38 in April to $3.12 in December, the forecast said.
It will dip to $3.09 in January 2009 before gradually rising again next year, peaking in the $3.20s in April, May and June, DOE said.
Gasoline prices are also projected to average above $3 per gallon this year and into 2009, with monthly average prices peaking near $3.50 per gallon this spring, DOE said.
The retail prices for refined petroleum products are expected to increase in 2008, pushed up by higher average crude oil prices.
Crude oil prices are expected to average $94 per barrel this month. Oil, which averaged $72 per barrel in 2007, will average about $87 in 2008 and $82 in 2009, DOE said.
