Oil's Slippery Slope

The Saudis are kicking the barrel down the road. Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman announced an extra 1 million barrel-a-day (mbd) supply cut in July following a tense OPEC+ meeting in Vienna over the weekend. “Others in the group pledged to maintain existing cuts until the end of 2024,” Bloomberg reported, “though Russia made no commitment to curb output further and the United Arab Emirates secured a higher production quota for next year.”

The Saudi oil minister pledged at the meeting to do “whatever is necessary to bring stability to this market.” In the days prior, he had warned bears in the futures markets to “watch out.” The markets are likely to call his bluff.