Prepare to pay more this year at the gas pump

Tribune News Service

MILWAUKEE

A new U.S. president, global politics, a jaw-jabbering oil cartel, the largest initial public offering of stock ever and unanswered questions about U.S. crude-oil production in 2017 are all contributing to a combustible forecast for gasoline prices this year.

About the only thing that market watchers seem certain of is that we’ll be paying more for gasoline in 2017.

“The list of factors being mixed into the yearly forecast has never been larger,” Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for fuel monitoring service GasBuddy, said in a statement. “Forecasting fuel prices, especially this year, remains a challenging balance of science and art.”

GasBuddy is forecasting the average cost for regular gas will jump to $2.49 per gallon this year, up from $2.13 in 2016.

A wide range of factors are shaping the oil markets.

The most recent news is that the OPEC oil cartel says it will lower production in an attempt to drive up prices. Market pros say they would be surprised if all the members of the cartel actually stick to the production cuts.

“They are going to cheat like they always do,” said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch & Assoc., an oil trading and advisory firm in northern Illinois. “Coming out of the gate this month with production cuts, you’ll see fairly strong compliance, maybe 80 percent,” of the cartel sticking to the cuts.