Government Raises Oil and Gas Price Forecasts
The Energy Department raised its outlook for the average price of a barrel of crude and a gallon of gasoline this year.
The Energy Information Administration’s Short-Term Energy Outlook now say oil will average $127 a barrel this year, up from the $122 a barrel forecast in last month’s report. The EIA expects gasoline to average $3.84 a gallon — more than $1 above the 2007 price. That’s up from $3.78 a gallon last month.
The EIA also trimmed its demand forecast, seeing global consumption growing by 900,000 barrels per day this year, versus 1 million barrels a day in the June report. U.S. consumption is now seen dropping by 400,000 barrels a day. Last month the decline was pegged at 290,000 barrels per day.
The forecast for the average price of natural gas rose as well from last month’s report — to $11.86 per 1,000 cubic feet from $11.
