DOE Boosts 2010 Diesel Price Forecast by 2¢ to $2.96 a Gallon
Retail diesel fuel will average $2.96 a gallon next year, 2 cents higher than a previous forecast, the Department of Energy said.
Diesel averaged $2.79 a gallon in November and will average $2.46 a gallon for 2009, DOE said in its monthly short-term energy outlook released Tuesday.
DOE had predicted last month that trucking’s main fuel would average $2.48 in 2009 and $2.94 in 2010 —2 cents, respectively, above and below the new forecast.
Crude oil will rise to $78.67 a barrel next year — a 0.7% uptick from last month’s forecast of $78.13 and 27% higher than DOE’s $61.87 per-barrel forecast for 2009.
World oil consumption will rise in 2010 to 85.22 million barrels a day — up from an 85.4 million bbd prediction last month and a 1.3% increase from this year’s estimated 84.12 bbd, DOE said.
Regular gasoline will average $2.65 a gallon this month, unchanged from November but almost $1 higher than last December. Gas will average $2.83 next year, 48 cents higher than this year.
In its latest weekly survey of filling stations released Monday, DOE said diesel fell 0.3 cent in the past week to $2.772 a gallon — the fifth straight decline — while gas rose for the second time in five weeks, gaining 0.5 cent to $2.634 a gallon.
