EIA lowers oil price forecast for second half of 2012
2012-06-13 12:48:06
The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil spot price is projected to average 95 U.S. dollars per barrel over the second half of 2012, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Tuesday.
The estimate is about 11 dollars per barrel lower than the agency's outlook last month, according to the EIA's monthly Short- Term Energy Outlook report released on Tuesday.
The U.S. refiner acquisition cost of crude (RAC) for the same period is expected to average 100 dollars per barrel, also almost 11 dollars per barrel lower than last month's outlook.
WTI crude oil spot prices averaged more than 100 dollars per barrel over the first 4 months of 2012, and then fell from 106 dollars on May 1 to 83 dollars on June 1, "reflecting market concerns about world economic and oil demand growth," according to the report.
The EIA expects crude oil prices to remain relatively flat in 2013.
The recent economic and financial news that points toward weaker economic outlooks could lead to lower economic growth forecasts and further downward revisions to the EIA's crude oil price forecasts, the report said.
The EIA expects total U.S. crude oil production to average 6.3 million barrels per day in 2012, up 600,000 barrels from last year and the highest level since 1998.
Regular gasoline prices at the retail level for the April- through-September summer driving season will likely average 3.60 dollars a gallon, down from a forecast of 3.79 dollars in the previous report.