Insight - Organisation’s bold move

With the impact of the pandemic still evident, the decision by Opec , the group that includes the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and their allies, to add back an effective 2.1 million barrels per day (bpd) of output by July seems brave. (File pic - Opec logo at its headquarters)

THE move by the Opec+ group of oil exporters to ease their output restrictions from May onwards is effectively a bet that the current soft demand for crude will improve at the same pace as production returns.

If history is a guide, it will be extremely difficult to get that balance correct, especially in the wake of such a large disruption to the global oil market as the coronavirus pandemic.