Retail Motor Gasoline Prices*
Sources: History: EIA; Projections: Short-Term Energy Outlook, January 2001.
Notes:
- Assuming that our base case crude oil price path holds, we project that retail motor gasoline prices will continue to recede this winter, then begin to rise ahead of the summer driving season. By year's end, the monthly average retail price of regular (self-service) motor gasoline is projected to be about $1.38 per gallon.
- As was the case with heating oil, last year’s peak average gasoline price, at $1.633 per gallon in June, was the highest ever recorded in nominal terms. However, in real (constant dollar) prices, the highest observed price was in March 1981, when the average was $1.417 per gallon, equivalent to almost $2.80 per gallon today.