To Stop the Oil Price War, Trump Must Step in to Strike a Deal
The oil glut, like the health and economic crises, needs a global solution and a global leader.
Someone’s missing.
Photographer: Juan Mabromata/AFP via Getty Images
The forecasts for oil demand are grim. Analysts from Goldman Sachs Group to Macquarie Group and commodities trader Trafigura Group estimate the peak hit to global demand will be anywhere from 8 million barrels a day to 11.4 million. Consultancy IHS Markit says global oil markets face the possibility of the biggest crude surplus ever recorded. That is too big for any single producer, or small group of producers, to deal with alone. And it’s become painfully clear that they have no appetite to do so anyway.
Don’t be surprised that it has no desire to ride to anyone’s rescue. No doubt it would only be pilloried again for pushing prices up as soon as motorists complain about the cost of filling their tanks.