DOE Sees Diesel Near $4.71 for Next Few Months
Diesel fuel will average $4.32 a gallon this year and next year, but will remain near $4.71 a gallon for the next few months, the Department of Energy said.
The forecast is well above the $3.94 that DOE projected for 2008 in last month’s forecast. Last year, trucking’s main fuel averaged $2.88 a gallon, the department said in its monthly short-term energy outlook, released Tuesday.
The steep increases “reflect strength in diesel demand, particularly in emerging markets, that has significantly increased the margins between diesel prices and crude oil costs from those of last year,” the outlook said.
Diesel also boosted its crude oil pricing outlook by 12% to $122.15 a barrel this year, up from a $109.53 predicted last month.
Gasoline will average $3.95 a gallon during the peak demand season through September, up from last month’s $3.65 forecast, DOE said.
For the year, the motor fuel will average $3.78, up from a $2.81 average last year and 25 cents higher than DOE projected for this year last month.
In its weekly survey released Monday, DOE reported that diesel’s national average pump price fell 1.6 cents to $4.692, while gasoline jumped 6.3 cents to $4.039, the first time it has risen past the $4 mark.
Diesel topped out a record $4.723 two weeks ago, and crude oil set a closing-price record Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange of $138.54 a barrel.
