Opec’s risky metamorphosis

The urge to create a bigger producer group based on the Declaration of Cooperation is changing Opec's power politics

The Opec meeting of 22 June was less than 12 hours away and the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee was in session deep inside the group's central Vienna headquarters. Things got testy. Iran's oil minister, Bijan Namdar Zangeneh walked out and a few minutes later arrived at the Kempinski hotel nearby to tell reporters that Iran might kill Saudi Arabia's plan to get Opec support for an easing of the cuts the next day.  The JMMC was formed in late 2016, part of the Declaration of Cooperation between Opec and non-Opec countries, and its original task was to keep tabs on producers' compliance with quotas. It meets every two months. And because Saudi Arabia and Russia are permanent members, it