Strategy v market dynamics
Members must consider a host of complex issues as they wrestle with the problem of managing oil supply
Opec production has fallen from 32.9m barrels a day in July 2017 to approximately 31.8m b/d in May this year. The decline has been driven by both intentional cuts (particularly from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE) and unintentional ones (Venezuela and Angola). The market is rightly focusing its eyes on Venezuela. The country lost almost 1m b/d of production since 2016, with exports set to suffer further in the coming months. ConocoPhillips' seizure of PdV's storage and loading assets in Netherlands Antilles increases reliance on its already congested domestic ports. For Angola, its heavy weighting of deep-water production makes it particularly vulnerable to further declines. With Opec itse
Also in this section
18 February 2026
With Texas LNG approaching financial close, Alaska LNG advancing towards a phased buildout and Magnolia LNG positioned for future optionality, Glenfarne CEO Brendan Duval says the coming year will demonstrate how the company’s more focused, owner-operator approach is reshaping LNG infrastructure development in the North America
18 February 2026
The global gas industry is no longer on the backfoot, hesitantly justifying the value of its product, but has greater confidence in gas remaining a core part of the global energy mix for decades
18 February 2026
With marketable supply unlikely to grow significantly and limited scope for pipeline imports, Brazil is expected to continue relying on LNG to cover supply shortfalls, Ieda Gomes, senior adviser of Brazilian thinktank FGV Energia,
tells Petroleum Economist
17 February 2026
The 25th WPC Energy Congress, taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 26–30 April 2026, will bring together leaders from the political, industrial, financial and technology sectors under the unifying theme “Pathways to an Energy Future for All”
