February 15, 2002—The US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently released its “Short-Term Energy Outlook,” which forecasts energy costs through 2002. The report says that crude oil prices are expected to gradually increase this year, pushing US gasoline prices up. However, a mild winter has caused low demand for heating fuels such as heating oil, propane, and natural gas, so prices for those fuels have fallen. This decrease has allowed fuel inventories to recover from last year’s lows.
The report also shows that total annual electricity demand growth (retail sales plus industrial generation for own use and other direct sales) is expected to revive slightly by 0.6 percent in 2002, and by a further 2.7 percent in 2003.
For more information, contact EIA.
