Associated Press (New York) - Pump prices will average $3.70 per gallon this spring and summer with a barrel of oil averaging $102 this year, the U.S. Department of Energy said Tuesday.
Conflict in the Middle East and fighting in Libya prompted government analysts to raise expectations for gasoline prices by 50 cents a gallon for the peak driving season in the Energy Information Administration's monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook. The EIA boosted its per-barrel oil estimate by $9 for the year.
EIA sees pump prices peaking at $3.75 a gallon in June. But its report said there is "significant uncertainty surrounding the forecast" and pump prices could spike above $4 this summer, which would threaten the all-time high of $4.11 a gallon reached in July 2008.
On Tuesday the national average for a gallon of regular hit $3.52, according to AAA.
