DOE Keeps 2010 Diesel Forecast Under $3 a Gallon
Diesel’s national retail price will average $2.98 a gallon this year, the Department of Energy said Wednesday, boosting its most recent prediction by 2 cents.
Trucking’s main fuel will rise to an average $3.13 at the pump next year, also 2 cents over last month’s forecast, DOE said in its monthly short-term energy outlook released Wednesday.
DOE said in its weekly report Tuesday that the national average diesel price was $2.924 a gallon — down more than 20 cents from the year’s $3.127 peak, set on May 10.
The price topped $3 a gallon for eight consecutive weeks ending May 24. Diesel averaged $2.46 per gallon last year.
Gasoline, meanwhile, will average $2.77 a gallon this year, DOE said, and average $2.80 during this summer’s driving season, which generally has the highest price due to strong demand.
Both those forecasts are a penny over last month’s outlook, and the summer figure is 36 cents higher than last year, DOE said. Gasoline averaged $2.726 in this week’s national survey and $2.35 last year.
Crude oil prices — which finished June at about $76 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange — will average $79 in the second half of the year before climbing to $83 next year, unchanged from last month’s outlook.
DOE also said that reductions in crude output resulting from the 6-month deepwater drilling moratorium announced by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on May 27 will average 31,000 barrels per day in the fourth quarter.
That moratorium was put in place as the result of the ongoing BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico that began with a rig explosion on April 20, which the company and government agencies are continuing to try to cap and contain.
