OPEC and IEA singing off the same hymn sheet

OPEC and the International Energy Agency (IEA) are often viewed as coming from different worlds, representing clients with diametrically opposed energy interests. So it is noteworthy when they agree. That happened last week, when the IEA said OPEC’s decision to keep its output targets steady was “sensible”.

For OPEC, the 12-nation group controlling about 40 per cent of the world’s oil supply, the decision was not as straightforward as it might have seemed to outsiders. It was not just a matter of marking time or taking the path of least resistance. Rather, it was a deliberate staying of action to help support oil demand.

The OPEC secretary general, Abdulla el Badri, provided some behind-the-scenes insight last Thursday during a post-meeting briefing session with reporters at the secretariat’s headquarters in Vienna.