DOE Lowers 2010 Diesel Forecast to Below $3 a Gallon
The Department of Energy said diesel will average under $3 a gallon this year, lowering last month’s forecast by about a dime.
On-highway retail diesel will average $2.96 this year, down from the $3.05 forecast last month, DOE said in its monthly short-term energy outlook released Tuesday.
Diesel will average $3.11 per gallon next year, down from the $3.20 forecast last month, DOE said. Trucking’s main fuel averaged $2.46 in 2009.
Gasoline will average $2.76 per gallon this year and $2.92 in 2011, DOE said. Those projections are 10 and 6 cents, respectively, lower than last month’s report — though gas will average $2.79 this summer, up 35 cents from last summer.
The lower diesel and gasoline forecasts were due to a projected lower price for crude oil, DOE said, forecasting crude spot prices will average $79 per barrel in the second half of 2010 before rising to $84 by the end of next year.
Oil is currently trading in the early $70s per barrel, and prices averaged below $74 in May — almost $11 below from April and $7 lower than DOE’s previous forecast.
DOE said its outlook includes preliminary estimates of production reductions resulting from a 6-month deepwater drilling moratorium announced by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on May 27, following April’s explosion at a BP oil platform and subsequent oil leak into the Gulf of Mexico that has yet to be contained.
