Notes from Doha: OPEC MAX and the oil rout that wasn’t

摘要

London-There was much gnashing of teeth as Qatar’s grand meeting of oil producers, including most of OPEC and others, failed to reach agreement April 17 to freeze production at January levels. Commentators predicted a collapse in oil prices and some discerned the demise of OPEC itself. But since then the expected rout in prices has yet to materialize, stock markets have been unfazed, and the outcome from the point of view of OPEC’s dominant Arab Gulf members may not be unsatisfactory. No doubt some delegates found it annoying to needlessly spend 12 hours cooped up in a five-star hotel in Doha, albeit with a visit to pay their respects to the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. The failure of the talks was an embarrassment and will be felt by OPEC’s weakest nations, particularly Venezuela, which is in a sta