Thirteen Minutes That Showed OPEC+’s Irrelevance
The group has been unable, or unwilling, to help stabilize oil markets as crude prices surge.
Saudi Arabia can’t make up the lost oil exports from Russia.
Photographer: Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASSThe group of oil producers known as OPEC+ has become an irrelevance. Amid the the most unstable oil-supply situation in more than 30 years, it went missing in action.
The 23 countries, which together account for nearly 45% of the world’s oil production, met on Wednesday with crude prices surging to their highest levels since 2014. Their virtual gathering lasted just 13 minutes. From the subsequent crowing about the new record set for the brevity of the meeting, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the mission was to get together for as short a time as possible, rather than to balance the oil market.