
The government of Saudi Arabia announced Sunday that it will voluntarily cut oil production by about 1 million barrels a day, likely sending gas prices higher this summer in the U.S.
The Gulf kingdom, the largest oil producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, confirmed that it will cut production from 10 million to 9 million barrels despite OPEC at large announcing it will not alter production plans for the remainder of 2023.
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, noted that oil prices shot up Sunday night when markets opened to around $75 a barrel, but they had dropped to $72 as of Monday morning. In the immediate short term, De Haan said, the impact on U.S. consumers will likely be measured in cents, with the national average possibly climbing over the next week or two.
“It appears that the market was really worked up yesterday but things are cooling off today, [so] there may not even be a three-to-six cent impact,” he said. “It’s going to be a very minor impact at the pump this week.”