BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 10. The US Energy Information Administration Agency predicts that the average price of gasoline at the pump in the US will be around $3.60 per gallon in 2024, Trend reports.
According to the agency's data, this is an increase of about 10 cents per gallon from what was forecasted in March and a slight uptick from last year's average price.
This rise in gasoline prices is mainly because the cost of wholesale gasoline is going up compared to what was expected in March, along with higher crude oil prices, the EIA explained. The forecast now is that wholesale gasoline will average over $2.70 per gallon in 2024, which is also 10 cents more than in 2023.
As the agency noted, the increase in wholesale gasoline prices from what was previously forecasted in March is due to the anticipation of more gasoline exports and lower gasoline inventories. This leads to a higher expected average price difference between the cost of producing gasoline and its selling price.
Furthermore, the expected increase in crude oil prices this year compared to last year is projected to add to the upward pressure on gasoline prices, the EIA added. About half of the increase in the forecasted average gasoline prices for 2024 compared to March's prediction is attributed to the higher expected crude oil prices.