Strategy v market dynamics

Members must consider a host of complex issues as they wrestle with the problem of managing oil supply

Opec production has fallen from 32.9m barrels a day in July 2017 to approximately 31.8m b/d in May this year. The decline has been driven by both intentional cuts (particularly from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE) and unintentional ones (Venezuela and Angola). The market is rightly focusing its eyes on Venezuela. The country lost almost 1m b/d of production since 2016, with exports set to suffer further in the coming months. ConocoPhillips' seizure of PdV's storage and loading assets in Netherlands Antilles increases reliance on its already congested domestic ports. For Angola, its heavy weighting of deep-water production makes it particularly vulnerable to further declines. With Opec itse