EIA Projects Gasoline Average Price At $3.60 In June, Consumption Down 0.7 % For Year - ENN

[hatrack]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Record gasoline prices and a contracting U.S. economy will reduce summer gasoline demand for the first time in 17 years, the government's top energy forecasting agency said Tuesday.

U.S. gasoline prices will hit a monthly peak of just over $3.60 per gallon in June, helping to reduce motor fuel demand by 0.4 percent this busy driving season compared to last summer, said the federal Energy Information Administration.

In its summer forecast, EIA said gasoline demand will be 36,000 barrels per day lower at 9.404 million bpd, the first summer decline since 1991. Consumers will pay an average $3.54 a gallon during the summer driving season, which runs from April through September, up 61 cents from last year, according to the Energy Department's analytical and forecasting arm.

However, EIA cautioned that gasoline prices in some parts of the country "will cross the $4 per gallon threshold." It said, "These retail price projections reflect higher prices for the refiner's average acquisition cost of crude oil, projected to average almost $97 per barrel, up from about $67 per barrel last summer."

EDIT

http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/34320

[whistle]

1. And Dubya says he never heard of $4.00 per gallon gasoline

:wtf: $4.00 per gallon gasoline is right around the corner George

[Beregond2]

2. It's funny

how the oil companies howl in protest at the idea of raising gas prices with taxes, saying it would kill their industry. But raising them themselves is just fine...

[kestrel91316]

3. Average price for regular in Los Angeles just hit $3.75 today.

I'm still getting it for $3.50-something down the street at an independent, but I'm sure THAT won't last.

The good news is, all the Hummers have vanished, and the other jumbo SUVs are dwindling.