OPEC & Partners: Playing with Fire
Key OPEC members have played with fire since early March as they stepped up from curtailment supply levels, triggering a free fall in oil prices. The 178th OPEC meeting in March marked a change for the Organization with Saudi Arabia refusing to comply with the curtailment agreement. Following through on its threat, Saudi Arabia increased its supply in late March and early April, joined by other members of the group as seen in Petro-Logistics' numbers. However, the move backfired as it occurred whilst demand collapsed and OPEC had to renegotiate a stricter agreement with its partners under pressure from the US.