Why Opec+ made a surprise output cut and what’s next for oil – The National

Why Opec+ made a surprise output cut and what’s next for oil – The National

Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the Saudi energy minister, has spoken of his intent to have speculators “ouching like hell”. The latest move of the Opec+ group of oil exporters should have achieved that.

When all analysts expected no change, Sunday surprised with a big cut in production targets, announced ahead of Monday’s official meeting.

The Opec+ members are making a “voluntary” cut, that is over their current commitments, of over 1.1 million barrels per day, running from May until at least year-end. Russia had already announced it would extend its unilateral 500,000 barrel per day reduction from June until the end of the year.