Dieself Prices Are Close To Reaching $6 a Gallon. The Energy Department Raised Its Price Outlook For Next Year.

The Energy Information Administration outlook raised its forecast for next year's diesel prices as the war in Iran and the disruption to global energy markets continue driving prices higher.

Concretely, the Energy Information Administration raised the forecast by more than 8% compared to the previous estimate. It now expects retail diesel prices to average $4.40 a gallon next year, compared to $4.07 in the last report. The forecast for the current year also increased by 22 cents to $5.07 a gallon. It stands at $5.9773 on Thursday, according to AAA.

The EIA said low distillate inventories, largely a result of the global conflicts, will be a primary driver of the increase.

Oil prices kept soaring as the U.S. and Iran keep trading strikes in the Strait of Hormuz and a report detailed that President Donald Trump and advisors reportedly discussed the war dragging on past the end of his term.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, gained 3.31% and stood at $104.56 per barrel at 10:36 a.m. ET, while West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, climbed 3.49% and clocked in at $99.40 at the same time. It had topped $100 per barrel earlier in the day.

The Wall Street Journal noted that Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other top officials talked about the possibility that Tehran could continue resisting the blockade imposed by the administration.

The conversation stands at odds with remarks from Trump on Wednesday, when he claimed that he believed "war's going to end immediately after the election because they can't hold out any longer." "Right after the election, oil prices are going to be tumbling downward," he added.

So far American households have paid more than $760 in additional gasoline and diesel costs since the Iran war began Feb. 28, according to an estimate from Brown University's Iran War Energy Cost Tracker. The nationwide increase had reached roughly $100 billion by Monday as fuel prices remained well above year-earlier levels.

The calculations use daily gasoline and diesel prices from AAA, consumption data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and household data from the Census Bureau.

Brown researchers estimated in mid-April that Americans had spent about $20 billion more on fuel since the conflict began, equivalent to more than $150 per household. By May 18, the additional cost had more than doubled to over $40 billion, or more than $300 per household.