The Energy Department says motorists can expect gasoline prices to remain close to $4 a gallon through next year.

Oil prices should remain well above $100 a barrel through 2009, says Guy Caruso, head of the department’s Energy Information Administration.

Caruso told a House hearing in Washington on Wednesday that crude oil prices are likely to average $126 a barrel next year, $4 higher than this year. He said gasoline prices are expected to peak at $4.15 a gallon in August, but won’t go down much. The agency projects gasoline averaging $3.92 a gallon through 2009.

Caruso said that oil prices are likely to stay high far into the future. He projected oil costing $107 a barrel in 2015.