Gas Prices Could Soon Hit $4 a Gallon. Here’s Why

OPEC+ will begin cutting its oil production by more than a million barrels a day next month, a move that experts say could seriously impact gas prices in the US.

The oil-producing alliance, which includes Saudia Arabia, Russia and Iran, announced April 2 that it will reduce its overall output by 1.2 million barrels from May 1 through the end of 2023, equal to about 1% less oil on the global market.

The move came just after Russia said it would be decreasing production by 500,000 barrels a day.

With summer travel season on the horizon, gas prices are already on target to increase. Insiders say OPEC’s decision could ratchet them up even higher.

“I certainly think there’s going to be upward pressure on prices as a result of these production cuts,” GasBuddy petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan told ABC News.

On Twitter, DeHann said he expected the slowdown to cause oil prices to rise $3 to $6 a barrel. At the pump, he added, the increase would be “limited to a ballpark of 5 to 15 cents a gallon.”

On Friday, the national average for a gallon of gas was $3.58, according to AAA. That’s up 8 cents from a week ago, but far less than the $4.15 average from this time last year.

Regular gasoline hit an all-time high of $5.02 a gallon in June 2022, as the market reacted to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, supply chain issues and the remnants of the COVID crisis.

OPEC+ nations previously cut their output by 2 million barrels per day last October, a move the White House called “shortsighted.”

The Biden administration has similarly criticized the new announcement, which Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called “unconstructive.”

“We don’t think cuts are advisable at this moment, given market uncertainty — and we’ve made that clear,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Monday.

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