Gas price increases may be set to resume

ALBANY — Gas prices have risen steadily in concert with crude oil following OPEC’s agreement Nov. 30 to curtail production. And while they appear to have plateaued, a deal Saturday by non-OPEC countries might push them upward again.

“Gas prices are moving in concert with crude, which has pushed higher since OPEC announced plans to cut production in January,” Mark Jenkins, spokesman for AAA Auto Club Group, said. “After rising for nearly two weeks, gas prices leveled-off on Sunday.

“However, the upward trend could resume this week, depending on how the oil market responds to news of a new production-cut agreement from a number of non-OPEC oil-producing countries.”

Russia, which had been expected to increase production in 2017, agreed to cut 300,000 barrels a day, accounting for about half of the total production-cut pledge made Saturday by a group of producing nations that included Mexico, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Oman and other small producers. Combined with OPEC’s 1.2 million barrel cut set to start next month, that would tighten supply by 1.8 million barrels a day.

“Retail gasoline prices across the country appear to have hit a plateau and that’s not surprising given the mix of potentially upward and downward forces working simultaneously on crude oil prices,” Gregg Laskoski, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy, said. “On one hand we have the news that OPEC issued over the weekend; that a group of non-OPEC oil producers led by Russia have agreed to collectively cut 2017 production by 600,000 barrels.

“But on the other hand the promises for next year do little to change the robust global supply we have today. OPEC’s November output rose 370,000 bpd (barrels per day) to 34.19 million bpd, a record high. Reuters reported that Russian oil production for November also set a new record. Nobody’s saying anyone will cheat on the agreement but old habits are hard to break.”

Oil rose to an 18-month high in Monday trading. Reuters reported Monday that U.S. crude futures settled up $1.33 at $52.83 a barrel, a 2.6 percent gain, though that was sharply off the day’s highs. After settlement, trading saw the price continue to slip. U.S. production remains about 1 million bpd below the peak of 9.6 million it reached in 2015, according to U.S. Energy Department data, Reuters reported.

On Monday, both the GasBuddy and AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report had their morning average retail gas price benchmark over $2.21 per gallon nationally, up more than 3 cents over the previous Monday and about 4 cents higher than last month. Compared to last year when the U.S. average was hovering around $2.015, American motorists Monday were paying 19.7 to 20.1 cents more per gallon, depending on the survey.

Georgia motorists were faring better at around $2.186 Monday, up more than 6 cents in a week, but still more than a penny cheaper than last month. The state’s motorists Monday were paying about 24.5 cents more per gallon compared to last year, when Georgia’s average was around $1.94.

In metro Albany, drivers were paying $2.149 per gallon Monday, according to the Daily Fuel Gauge Report. That was up 1.2 cent from last week and was 3.9 cents higher than last month. Albany motorists were paying 27.2 cents more per gallon Monday than on the same date in 2015.

According to AAA’s report, Albany ranked third lowest Monday among the state’s eight largest metro areas. Augusta had the lowest average among the metro areas at $2.117, beating Macon’s $2.122. The highest average was being paid in metro Atlanta at $2.216.