DOE Lowers Diesel Price Forecast to $3.90
Diesel will average $3.90 a gallon this year, the Department of Energy said, lowering its most recent forecast by 2 cents.
Trucking’s main fuel, which averaged $3.97 last year, will average $3.80 in 2014, DOE said in its monthly short-term energy outlook released Tuesday. That’s also a 2-cent decline from last month’s forecast.
DOE held both its 2013 gasoline price forecast at $3.55 a gallon and next year’s projection at $3.39 a gallon.
The monthly outlook often lags DOE’s weekly price surveys. Both fuels declined in the past two weeks following multiple weeks of increases, with diesel now at $4.088 and gas at $3.71, the department said Monday.
DOE lowered its forecast for the price of crude oil, the main component of refined fuels, by about $1, saying it will average $91.92 a barrel this year, down from last month’s $92.81 forecast.
Oil, which averaged $94.12 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange last year, will average $92.17 in 2014, DOE said.
Crude futures finished the trading day Tuesday up 48 cents on the Nymex to $92.54 a barrel, Bloomberg News reported.
