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 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.
