The stalemate which derailed last week’s Opec+ talks has persisted throughout the week, with neither side yet moving towards a compromise.
To recap, a joint proposal by Saudi Arabia and Russia to ease production cuts by 400,000 b/d each month for the remainder of this year and to extend the cuts beyond next April to the end of 2022 was blocked by the UAE. The UAE backed the first part, but would only support the second part if the baseline from which it is cutting is increased (MEES, 9 July). It called for the two issues to be decoupled, enabling production increases from August, but leaving the trickier issue of baselines to be negotiated in the coming months. (CONTINUED - 1021 WORDS)
