Further increase expected in the coming months
Bad news for those who are already shocked by the prices at the pump; it’s probably going to get worse for a while. OPEC+ will continue to cut production for longer and you will notice that at the gas station.
Oil cartel OPEC+ has decided to extend the current production cut until the end of June. The group of major oil-producing countries, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, made the decision on Wednesday. This concerns a production reduction of approximately 2 million barrels per day. By supporting prices, the OPEC+ countries want to maintain the level of income from oil exports. The continued tightness on the global oil market could lead to oil prices rising further. This in turn could lead to higher prices at the pump, which have already risen significantly in recent months.
According to fuel expert Paul van Selms of consumer collective UnitedConsumers, all signals are red. “There are no signals that oil will become cheaper, only that it will become more expensive. And we will see that reflected in the prices at the pump,” says Van Selms. He points out that the oil price has risen by $10 in a short time to almost $90 per barrel. “I think we have to get used to oil prices that will no longer fall below 80 dollars per barrel for the time being. The time of really low oil prices is over, there is too much unrest in the world for that,” says the expert. Since the beginning of this year, the recommended retail price for a liter of gasoline has risen by almost 20 cents, according to UnitedConsumers. The recommended price for diesel increased by approximately 10 cents per liter during that period.
