Opec should bear in mind its history
The past offers painful warnings against the temptations that 2021 may bring
The start of 2021 has proven as turbulent as the year just gone, even by the tumultuous historical standards of the oil industry. Saudi Arabia’s 2020 efforts to rally Opec producers and expand the scope of its wider Opec+ alliance to arrange ‘orderly’ production cuts and support prices threatened to unravel in the face of intransigence from Russia and others. The kingdom’s decision to bear an ever greater cuts burden has calmed the market for now. But, for the rest of the year and beyond, the attitude and behaviour of all Opec members and their allies will be critical for the oil market’s supply side. And, to try to see into the future, we should remind ourselves of the way Opec has behaved
Also in this section
9 March 2026
Petroleum Economist analysis sees increases in output from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Kazakhstan among others before region’s murky descent
9 March 2026
Energy sanctions are becoming an increasingly prominent tool of US foreign policy, with the country’s growth in oil and gas production allowing it to impose pressure on rivals without jeopardising its own energy security or that of its allies, argues Matthew McManus, a visiting fellow at the National Center for Energy Analytics
6 March 2026
The March 2026 issue of Petroleum Economist is out now!
6 March 2026
After Europe’s rapid buildout of floating LNG import capacity, Exmar CEO Carl-Antoine Saverys says future growth in floating gas infrastructure will increasingly be driven by developing markets as lower prices, rising energy demand and the need to replace coal unlock new opportunities for unconventional and tailor-made solutions
