Opec - now for the hard part

Opec's Algiers deal has put a floor in prices - but the group must give the market real details at its end-November meeting

Trading on faith if not a suspension of disbelief, oil prices have found a floor at about $50 a barrel. Short of a major geopolitical shock, a price surge is not on its way. But the Opec deal announced at the end of September has wiped out many of the market's shorts. Now, to keep some modest price momentum-and the bears at bay-the group must deliver real cuts with real details at its Vienna meeting on 30 November. Start with the obvious. Saudi Arabia's change of tack is not a head fake. The kingdom's new oil minister, Khalid al-Falih, has been signalling since the last Opec meeting in June that he wanted to reanimate the group and restore its purpose. The kingdom's economy has weakened, its