Citation :
The OPEC+ oil cartel has a plan for 2023 – and, for now at least, it involves doing absolutely nothing. Having spoken to multiple officials during a Middle East trip last week, the words I heard most often were “stay put,” followed by “wait and see.” It’s tempting to think that what did the job in 2022 will work again this year. But OPEC+ is taking a gamble: If the group gets its supply and demand calculations wrong, it risks inflicting higher energy prices on a world still fighting elevated inflation. Still, OPEC+ would rather err on adding too few barrels than too many, at least for the first half of the year, and likely all of 2023. If the consequence of the cautious approach is that oil prices rise further later this year, perhaps toward the $90-to-$100 a barrel level, that’s an outcome the group appears to be happy with. The priority, particularly in Saudi Arabia, is to protect oil revenue. That means putting the kingdom first, and everything else second.
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