WASHINGTON – The average U.S. price for gasoline, now at $2.62 per gallon, is expected to fall to an average of $2.55 per gallon in January 2007 before rising again into next summer, according to the latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, released yesterday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

EIA also says that in 2006 and 2007, the West Texas Intermediate crude oil spot price is projected to average around $70 per barrel. Retail regular gasoline prices are projected to average about $2.65 per gallon in both 2006 and 2007.

Total U.S. petroleum consumption is projected to be unchanged in 2006 compared with 2005, adds EIA. In 2007, total consumption is expected to increase by 2.0 percent. Also, while gasoline consumption showed virtually no growth in 2005, it is projected to grow 1.0 percent in 2006 and 1.2 percent in 2007.

Also on Tuesday, USA Today looked at declining gasoline prices and interviewed NACS Board Member Jinger Duryea, president of C.N. Brown in South Paris, Maine, which operates 90 convenience stores that sell fuel.

“Falling prices are cheering gasoline retailers as much as motorists,” notes USA Today.

“When it was $3.00, I was paying 9 cents a gallon in credit card fees. It's a percentage (of the price). The retailer pays that; the customer never sees that. There were many times I was close to breaking even or even losing money. The first part of the year has been abysmal. We're all breathing a sigh of relief," Duryea told the newspaper.

The complete Short-Term Energy Outlook can be accessed at the EIA Web site. The next update will be October 10.