News Analysis Americans are expected to spend more on gas in the new year if Wall Street predictions play out. While the U.S. government says gas prices will fall below $3 per gallon in 2022, many analysts forecast the opposite. With strong global demand and “underinvestment” in the oil and gas sector, prices at the pump are likely to continue their upward march in 2022 and even in 2023, fueling inflation further. Despite the recent slump in oil prices on Omicron fears, both the international benchmark Brent crude and U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose more than 50 percent in 2021, closing the year around $80 and $76 per barrel, respectively. JPMorgan analysts predict that Brent crude prices will hit $125/bbl in the new year and $150 in 2023. The oil cartel—Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia (OPEC+)—has limited capacity to boost production, Christyan Malek, JPMorgan’s head of oil and gas research …