The Energy Information Administration, the top federal energy forecasting office, predicted this week that the demand for supper gasoline in the United States will drop for the first time in 17 years.

A combination of factors account for the decline, including prices that will heat more than $3.60 a gallon in June coupled with an overall contraction of the economy caused by weak credit markets and the mortgage crisis.

Compared to use in summer 2006m the EIA says demand will fall 0.4 percent during peak driving season with barrel per day usage down 36,000 to 9.404 billion per day. The last time such declines were recorded was 1991.

On average, consumers are expected to pay approximately $3.54 a gallon from April through September, a price 61 cents over last year. In some regions, however, gas prices are expected to exceed $4 per gallon.

In its statement the EIA said, "These retail price projections reflect higher prices for the refiner's average acquisition cost of crude oil, projected to average almost $97 per barrel, up from about $67 per barrel last summer.

The price for diesel fuel is expected to average $3.73 a gallon during the summer, an increase of 88 cents over 2006 with the projected peak in April at $3.90, a level that will seriously effect the nation's trucking industry.