OPEC-Russia Agreement To Freeze Production Is Meaningless
Qatar’s Minister of Energy and Industry Mohammed Saleh al-Sada (center), Saudi Arabia’s minister of Oil and Mineral Resources Ali al-Naimi (left), and Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak attend a press conference Tuesday in the Qatari capital Doha. Energy giants Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to freeze oil output to try to stabilize the market if other major producers do the same, Qatar’s oil minister said. Freezing oil production announced Tuesday by some OPEC members and Russia is not a cut and is largely meaningless. It does not include Iran and Iraq. Obviously only includes Saudi Arabia, Russia, Venezuela and Qatar. What is it really? A largely empty and cynical gesture that almost certainly will lead to another price increase "head-fake" that will not last. This will strengthen the OPEC income temporarily. The oil minister of Saudi Arabia's al-Naimi said the agreement to freeze the production levels of January was "dynamic and prelimin...