Opec+ pulled together a series of voluntary cut commitments from key producers during an at-times heated virtual meeting on 30 November. But markets reacted negatively to the outcome, with Brent futures settling down slightly on the day at $82.83/B. One market participant summed up the general feeling, noting that “the market believes nothing…fooled too many times [before].”

The group has sought to pump up the perceived scale of the near-term cuts, which it puts at 2.2mn b/d, but in reality the figure will be closer to 500,000 b/d assuming full-compliance; a figure not to be dismissed as the market enters the Q1 low-demand season. (CONTINUED - 1001 WORDS)