Just as we hit spring driving season, OPEC is announcing production cuts. But sometimes what OPEC says and what it does are two different things.
Gas prices will go up, obviously. But how much? AAA oil market analyst Don Redman says OPEC is trying to predict the world economy
"You have very difficult time right now in terms of trying to read where the economy is going to go," said Redman. "OPEC is betting the economy, the global economy is going to slow down."
Will the slowdown be enough to offset OPEC's cutback? Redman says some of OPEC's member nations may try and cheat and keep production up.
"The question mark is how much does Iraq want to cheat, because they can make a ton of money and they don't care if they're selling their crude at $50 a barrel, if they can get a buyer for that, they'll do it," Redman said.
And Iraq is not the only one.
"There will be other countries that certainly are going to be cheating, it just depends on how widespread it is. Believe me, there are countries that will take $75 a barrel if there's a market for that."
OPEC usually aims for a price of $80 to $100 a barrel.
Gasoline prices locally have increased nearly a dime over the past week, but remain much lower than this time last year. AAA says the current average for a gallon of regular in the New Orleans area is $3.17. It was $4.02 a year ago.
