From the Archives: Time for action from OPEC

In our final look back into the Petroleum Economist archives, we turn the clock back to September 2016

Saudi Arabia’s oil minister says Opec will take “any possible action” to stabilise the market. The group should cut, now The plan to recover market share, force rival producers out of business and wait for prices to bounce back has failed and is creating the conditions for a damaging price spike later this decade. Another boom, forced by the supply gaps that will emerge from the colossal withdrawal of upstream spending, might sound tempting for producers struggling with sub-$50-a-barrel Brent. But it would be a disaster for the industry, giving the decisive push for alternative energy sources and signalling oil’s eventual obsolescence. To avoid this, Opec and any other producer it can cajole