A mammoth week of negotiations culminated in Opec’s sparring members effectively agreeing to release an extra 500,000 b/d onto global markets on 22 June. Individual country allocations have been replaced by a group-wide ceiling that will permit the stronger members to capitalize on falling output from the weaker countries.

Always a two-tier organization, the differences between Opec’s haves and have nots is growing.

Nevertheless, Opec Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo appeared happy with the day’s work. Having given the post-meeting press conference a thumbs up upon his entrance, he proceeded to label 22 June as “one of those landmark conferences.”

Curiously, much anticipated resistance from Iran appears to have dissipated during the 22 June meeting. Iran and Venezuela look to be the biggest losers from the agreement, with the imposition of fresh US sanctions on each likely to push their output down....