NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- The federal Energy Information Administration
(website) lowered its price forecasts for heating fuels and crude oil this winter.
The new forecasts promise some measure of relief for consumers. But the EIA, the statistics arm of the U.S. Department of Energy, also cautioned that markets will remain tight even if the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries continues to pump at current high levels.
(snip)
The EIA now sees heating oil expenditures by households in the U.S. Northeast, where most is consumed, running 34% above last winter's levels, with retail prices averaging $1.85 a gallon. Natural gas prices are now seen 9% over last year's levels. Propane costs are seen up 22% this year.
Those increases are "marginally" less severe than those projected in last month's forecast, owing to the recent decline in prices and expectations of lower demand, the EIA said. Gasoline prices have also fallen in the past month, but the EIA doesn't expect that decline to last.
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