OPEC Math Reveals Gap Between Headlines and Real Barrels
- Many countries won’t be able to fulfill any increase in quotas
- Real boost likely to be a third less than headline number
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When OPEC meets on Friday in Vienna to discuss a possible output hike in the second half of the year, there’s likely to be a significant gap between the headline numbers under discussion and the amount of oil that can actually be added to the market.
The gap between real barrels and those that exist only on paper means that the impact on the market of any agreement between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies to increase supply is likely to be about one-third smaller than the headline announcement, according to Bloomberg calculations.