Oil meeting at OPEC as strategy bears fruit

AFP,  VIENNA:  Oil-producing countries from inside and outside OPEC meet in Vienna yesterday as signs grow that their landmark agreement to cap output may finally be boosting the price of crude. Twenty-four producers including Russia, Saudi Arabia and Riyadh’s partners in OPEC agreed in late 2016 to reduce output by around 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd). The deal, since extended to March 31, 2018, was aimed at reducing a global oil glut that had seen prices plummet from over $100 a barrel in 2014 to a 13-year low of under $30 last year. While good news for motorists and industries dependent on oil products, the low price hurt the finances even of rich Gulf countries, to say nothing of stricken OPEC member Venezuela.

Oil meeting at OPEC as strategy bears fruit

AFP, VIENNA: Oil-producing countries from inside and outside OPEC meet in Vienna yesterday as signs grow that their landmark agreement to cap output may finally be boosting the price of crude. Twenty-four producers including Russia, Saudi Arabia and Riyadhs partners in OPEC agreed in late 2016 to reduce output by around 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd). The deal, since extended to March 31, 2018, was aimed at reducing a global oil glut that had seen prices plummet from over $100 a barrel in 2014 to a 13-year low of under $30 last year. While good news for motorists and industries dependent on oil products, the low price hurt the finances even of rich Gulf countries, to say nothing of stricken OPEC member Venezuela.