Get ready for another hike in oil prices.
On Wednesday, OPEC, the oil cartel led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, agreed to slash production by 2 million barrels per day -- that's twice as much as analysts had predicted in the biggest cuts since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nick Chabarria, spokesperson for the AAA of Missouri, told KMOX that last week, the price of crude oil increased about 10%.
"And of course, that's going to translate to the pump as well," Chabarria said. "We've already seen prices starting to rise, even slightly prior to the announcement last Wednesday. But they've continued to come up in the metro area, we're up anywhere from nine to 15 cents depending on where you're at."
Since the middle of June, when Missouri hit its record high gas prices, prices have been steadily decreasing. But in the last few weeks, the Midwest in particular has seen price fluctuations.
"There were some planned and unplanned refinery repairs that needed to take place that took some refiners offline, that resulted in a price increase," he said. "And then on the West Coast, there were some refinery issues in California, we saw big spikes there. But we know that as we head toward the winter months, prices are going to fluctuate for a variety of reasons."
Chabarria said in the St. Louis area in Missouri, drivers are looking at prices around $3.32, while in the Metro East, it's closer to $4.08. He added that luckily for Missourians, the statewide average is the 11th lowest in the country.
Hear more from Nick Chabarria on what to expect at the pump:
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