The U.S. Department of Energy’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook projects the national average retail cost of on-highway diesel, including tax, will average $3.13 for the second quarter, up 6.7% from the forecast made a month earlier.
The average retail cost of on-highway diesel is expected to increase even more than the month-ago projections in the third and fourth quarters, 9.5% and 9% higher, respectively, to average prices of $3.17 per gallon in the third quarter and $3.16 in the fourth quarter.
The average diesel price for all of 2018 is forecast to be $3.12 per gallon, 6.4% higher than the projection from a month earlier.
The Energy Department made similar revisions to its forecast for regular gasoline. It’s projected to average $2.79 per gallon for all of 2018, 5.4% more than the department was calling for a month earlier.
Growth in the average prices of Brent and WTI crude oil are expected to average 10.5% and 11.6% higher in 2018, respectively, than expected in the forecast a month earlier.
