Yesterday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) issued its June Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) , which included significant downward revisions to the crude oil and petroleum product price forecasts for the second half of 2012 (Figure 1). The changes come after a combination of concerns regarding economic growth and moderating supply-demand balance expectations contributed to a steep drop in global crude oil prices in May. As a result, EIA is now forecasting West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil spot prices to average about $95 per barrel for the rest of 2012. Similarly, the average crude oil refiner acquisition cost (RAC) is now expected to be about $11 per barrel lower in the second half of 2012 compared with the May STEO. The lower forecast for crude oil prices has translated into a lower forecast for product prices. Regular gasoline is now expected to average $3.51 per gallon nationally in the third quarter, down from the $3.76 per gallon forecast in May.

Oil prices retreated markedly in May following a series of downbeat economic headlines, and there are concerns more declines could occur if recent signs of economic slowdown in China and the United States were to be confirmed and if a solution to current euro zone debt issues is not promptly agreed upon. After reaching a year-to-date peak of $109 per barrel in late February, WTI traded sideways for much of March and April, then lurched downward in May and early June, settling at $85 per barrel on June 7, lowering the starting point for EIA’s 2012 second-half WTI forecast. EIA’s forecast for global economic growth in the June STEO is largely unchanged since the prior STEO despite recently intensified concerns about the health of the global economy, but downward revisions are possible in future forecasts if economic conditions continue to worsen. Lower economic growth in the United States and China, the world’s top two oil-consuming nations, would likely put downward pressure on global oil demand and prices.

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