OPEC move to change market balance target raises policy quandary

摘要

London-OPEC is dusting off plans for a new metric to measure the success of its ongoing output cuts, but the main option on the table -targeting lower stocks -means the group would need much deeper and longer curbs to rebalance the global oil market. From their inception in late 2016, the OPEC-led production cuts have targeted a return to the five-year average of oil and refined product stocks in OECD member countries. Following years of stock builds under OPEC’s former pump-at-will strategy, OECD oil stocks hit a record of more than 400 million barrels in mid-2016.