Retail gasoline prices this summer are expected to be 11% higher than in summer 2017 (4/11/2018)

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that drivers in the United States will pay an average of $ 2.74 per gallon (gal) this summer for regular gasoline, an increase of 11% over last summer, according to EIA’s Short-Term Energy and Summer Fuels Outlook. EIA’s forecast price for summer 2018 (which runs from April through September) is 26 cents/gal higher than the average price last summer, but still 15 cents/gal lower than the 2013-2017 summer average (Figure 1). The price increase this summer primarily reflects higher forecast crude oil prices compared with last year. EIA projects that monthly average gasoline prices will remain mostly flat this summer, averaging $2.78/gal from April through June before falling to $ 2.65/gal in September. …