Trump declares oil prices too high, blames OPEC

By DAVID KOENIG AP Business Writer

President Donald Trump blames OPEC for oil prices that he says are too high, and no doubt many Americans feel the same way.

But it’s more complicated than that.

Crude has more than doubled since bottoming out below $30 a barrel in early 2016, causing U.S. motorists to face the highest gasoline prices since late 2014.

On Wednesday, the national average for a gallon of regular stood at $2.91, up 25 percent from a year ago, according to the AAA auto club.

“Oil prices are too high, OPEC is at it again. Not good!” Trump tweeted Wednesday morning.

OPEC is the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Members of the cartel, led by Saudi Arabia, and other big producers including Russia have played a role in reversing the plunge in crude prices that started in 2014. They have shown discipline in limiting production since the start of last year, helping push up the benchmark price of international crude.

Prices, however, were already rising on growing demand and expectations that a sharp pullback in new investment by oil companies would reduce the oil supply.

“Over time it would have happened anyway because of the cutbacks in (drilling) investment, but definitely OPEC’s cut in production helped speed the reduction of the oil glut,” said Phil Flynn, an oil analyst for The Price Futures Group.

Some estimates put the post-crash reduction in investment by major oil companies such as Exxon Mobil, Chevron and BP at more than $1 trillion. Flynn compared that to eliminating the fourth-largest oil producer in the world.

Meanwhile, output from Venezuela — a major oil exporter to the U.S. — has plunged as the country goes through a political and economic crisis. Most analysts expect production there to go even lower.

While Venezuela is a member of OPEC, “the disaster in Venezuela, which has created a hole in the market, is not the fault of OPEC,” said Daniel Yergin, the vice chairman of research firm IHS Markit and author of several books on the energy industry.