OPEC’s Rebel Makes Gesture of Atonement Ahead of New Oil Cuts - Bloomberg

OPEC’s Rebel Makes Gesture of Atonement Ahead of New Oil Cuts - Bloomberg:

Saudi Arabia’s pressure on fellow OPEC nations to do a better job of cutting output appears to be paying off with the cartel’s main renegade, Iraq.

Baghdad reduced supplies this month to honor some of its outstanding commitments to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, according to Petro-Logistics SA and Genscape Inc., which track output. Baghdad pared production by 110,000 barrels a day in December, Petro-Logistics estimates.

Yet the country still has a long way to go. At 4.67 million barrels a day, output is now back down to near the starting point for this year’s cutbacks after the country increased production for much of 2019. It will need much sharper reductions to implement the new accord starting in 2020, and some market-watchers are skeptical the country can achieve the target.