Julian Lee, Columnist

OPEC Ditches Its Rear-View Mirror for Something Worse

Setting policy by referring to investment plans makes no sense.

April 29, 2018 at 7:12 AM UTC

Julian Lee is an oil strategist for Bloomberg. Previously, he was a senior analyst at the Centre for Global Energy Studies.

Key Speakers At Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee Of Opec — Photographer: Abdulrahman Abdullah/Bloomberg

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OPEC's multi-year attempt to steer the oil market by focusing on inventory levels was always like trying to drive a car while looking only in the rear view mirror. The inventory data is historical and reflects what the market was like a month or more ago. By the time OPEC gets the data, the world has already moved on.

If you thought that was a bad idea, wait until you hear this.