OPEC-Plus Deal Is Worth The Risk Of Trump Tweets - Bloomberg

OPEC-Plus Deal Is Worth The Risk Of Trump Tweets - Bloomberg:

If Friday’s last-minute deal by the OPEC-plus group sparks a big rally in oil prices, then it and Saudi Arabia, especially, can probably expect a few holiday tweets from a certain president. Judging from comments made by Khalid Al-Falih, the country’s energy minister, they seem to expect as much.

OPEC says it will cut 800,000 barrels a day of production starting in January, while its 10 partner countries have pledged to take out 400,000 a day. Oil prices jumped, erasing the plunge that followed Thursday’s inconclusive meeting. Even so, Brent crude oil is still only at $63 a barrel. That could change, however, if Saudi Arabia follows through on comments made by Al-Falih at Friday’s press conference.

While the group didn’t give specific quotas for each member, the overall figure implies a cut of 3 percent versus October production except for the three countries exempted (Iran, Libya and Venezuela). That would mean Saudi Arabia going from about 10.6 million barrels a day to 10.3 million. However, Al-Falih said the country produced 11.1 million barrels in November and guided for 10.2 million barrels a day in January, when the cuts are due to begin. So rather than cutting 300,000 barrels a day, Saudi Arabia may be taking out three times that amount in the near term, more than OPEC’s entire pledge.