Opec: The rollover
The cuts were extended—but with a built-in escape hatch and implicit threat to other producers
Khalid al-Falih, Saudi Arabia's oil minister, appeared relaxed. A long day of meetings was over and, taking the microphone at the press conference in Vienna on 30 November, he seemed keen to reassert the kingdom's command of the oil market. Saudi Arabia got what it came for in the Austrian capital at the end of November. But Russia's influence was plain. Opec agreed a nine-month extension to the cuts that would otherwise have expired in Q2 2018. It forced Libya and Nigeria to accept a cap on output. The revised deal starts from 1 January 2018 but keeps the cuts, spread across the group and its non-Opec partners, at 1.8m barrels a day. It secures Moscow's cooperation again, dispelling for ano
Also in this section
3 April 2025
Gas use in India has seen significant growth over the past year and looks set to accelerate further, even if the government’s 2030 goal remains a stretch
3 April 2025
IOCs and Western lenders are reluctant to commit to new oil and gas projects in African frontier countries
2 April 2025
The often-hidden yet powerful hand maintains supply chain linkages and global flows amid disruptions
2 April 2025
At some point it is likely that $70/bl will be quietly accepted as the producer-consumer sweet spot for a US administration having to balance both sides of the ledger
