The Opec oil production deal envisages to limit oil supply in order to drain excess inventories and boost prices. “We tend to cheat,” former Saudi oil minister Ali Al-Naimi famously observed shortly after the output deal was agreed in November 2016. The only Opec countries that have made significant voluntary cuts are the Persian Gulf Arab nations -- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. The only other pledges from Opec’s friends for output reductions of more than 20,000 barrels a day came from Oman, Mexico and Azerbaijan. It would be a huge personal blow to Saudi oil minister Khalid Al-Falih and to Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, the architects of the policy.

Source: Mint January 07, 2018 14:26 UTC