Experts warn higher fuel prices could be coming in the very near future

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — GasBuddy is warning motorists that the national average may reach or exceed $3 per gallon by Memorial Day after OPEC’s meeting Thursday closed with no meaningful increase in oil production.

The last time the national average reached the $3/gal threshold was over 2,300 days ago, on October 10, 2014, but did get close in 2018, when the national average reached $2.97 per gallon.

Much of the reason oil prices have their strongest chance to reach $3 in years comes due to OPEC’s delay in raising production to meet the global rise in demand.

As vaccines have spread country to country, demand for oil has rebounded notably.

Early in the pandemic, OPEC cut some 10 million barrels per day of oil production, which largely remains the case today, as OPEC has not yet responded in kind to the rebound in global demand.

Read more here.