Diesel to Average $3.88 in Second Half of Year, DOE Report Says
Diesel will average $3.88 a gallon for the rest of the year and $3.79 in 2014, the Department of Energy said in its monthly short-term energy outlook.
Trucking’s main fuel, which averaged $3.97 in 2012, averaged $3.95 last summer and $4 a gallon through the first four months of this year. The 2013 projection was 2 cents below last month’s outlook.
The report noted that daily and weekly prices “can differ significantly from monthly and seasonal averages [with] significant differences across regions [and] monthly average prices in some areas exceeding the national average price by 30 cents per gallon or more.”
Gasoline will average $3.53 a gallon this summer, well below last summer’s $3.69 average, DOE said. The motor fuel will average $3.50 in 2013, a nickel below last month’s forecast.
The monthly short-term outlook often lags DOE’s weekly price surveys. Diesel has declined for 10 straight weeks to a national average $3.845, while gasoline saw its first increase in 10 weeks, gaining 1.3 cents to $3.538, DOE said Monday.
The department also lowered its crude oil forecast to $93.17 a barrel this year, down 75 cents from last month’s outlook. Oil will average $92.25 next year, the report said.
Oil finished the trading day Tuesday at $95.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg News reported.
Monday’s $96.16 Nymex closing price was a five-week high.
