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The agreement was sealed on Friday, December 7, 2018 after a two-day meeting of the cartel in Vienna. REUTERS / Leonhard Foeger
A forceps agreement was reached Friday (7 December) in Vienna, Austria at the headquarters of OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. After two days of meeting, cartel countries, de facto led by Saudi Arabia and partner countries, led by Russia, agreed on a drop in production of 1.2 million barrels of oil per day. A long-awaited decision to halt the drop in oil prices, which have fallen by 30% since October. A decision that is the culmination of tedious discussions.
With our correspondent in Vienna, Isaure Hiace
The discussions were long and difficult, because while OPEC member countries and partner countries agreed on the need for a decline in production, the division of efforts to achieve this was a thorny issue , with everyone arguing that his own interests.
Iran in particular demanded to be exempted, estimating its oil sector already weakened by the American sanctions. An appeal heard: Tehran will be exempted, just like Venezuela and Libya.
The agreement reached by the cartel countries and their partners exceeds market expectations. Saudi Arabia had in fact initially mentioned a drop of 1 million barrels a day, which will eventually be 1.2 million (800,000 bpd for OPEC member countries, 400,000 bpd for partner countries). ).
But this agreement should not please Donald Trump, the US president who has repeatedly urged OPEC to keep oil production at a high level to keep prices low.
Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih defended himself on Friday to want to overwhelm consumers and urged states not to over-tax hydrocarbons, without naming a country.