Filed under: Before the bell, International markets, Rumors, Middle East, Oil
It had appeared to be a done deal that OPEC would leave output unchanged at this week’s meeting, but that assumption is now debatable as news has surfaced that Saudi Arabia is supporting an increase in oil production.
As recently as yesterday Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s accepted leader and top producer, had kept its views to itself, but according to Bloomberg, the country has sided with other OPEC countries that are proposing to increase output in order to combat high oil prices. The article did not specifically state what increase Saudi Arabia was suggesting, but some of the group’s Persian producers have argued for a 500,000 barrel increase.
With Saudi Arabia now supporting a production increase, the outcome of this week’s meeting is much cloudier. The news that the country was in favor of an increase was leaked to reporters by Iraq’s oil minister before meetings got under way today. The decision to change output is going to be a highly debated one as Iran, Venezuela, Algeria and Libya have all publicly stated that they will not support increasing output.
Continue reading OPEC stance not as sturdy as we thought
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