EIA expects a mixed picture for US households winter fuel costs this year
USO•USO•USO•USO•The EIA expects households that primarily heat with natural gas or propane to spend less this winter than last, while heating-oil households are expected to pay about 21% more.
About half of US households primarily heat with natural gas or propane, and the EIA expects them to spend less on energy this winter than last. Heating-oil households, about 3% of US homes and mostly in the Northeast, are expected to pay about 21% more.
The EIA forecasts heating-oil prices to rise 30%, partly offset by milder Northeast weather. It expects national winter temperatures to be about the same as last winter and the previous 10-winter average. Natural gas inventories are expected to enter the heating season 2% above the previous five-year average, while East Coast distillate stockpiles were 32% below their five-year seasonal average in September and are forecast to remain 20% to 30% below average through winter.
