OPEC’s 43% Revenue Plunge Helps Explain Strict Supply Policy
- Earnings from 2020 petroleum sales were half of 2018’s level
- Group’s slow return of output has helped oil’s rally to $80
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The ascetic approach taken by OPEC and its allies in restoring oil production becomes easier to understand when you look at last year’s accounts.
The OPEC+ alliance is using modest monthly increments to return the vast swaths of output shuttered in 2020, even as fuel demand bounces back rapidly from the pandemic. Its gradual pace has helped foster a rally in crude prices, which hit $80 a barrel this week.