Letter from London: OPEC+ well set for Sisyphean task

The impressive agreement struck between OPEC and its allies highlights the powers and limits of the group

OPEC+’s cheerleaders and critics rarely see eye to eye. The cynics call out the alliance as a cartel yet smirk when the market, at least initially, fails to respond to the pact’s production cuts. The advocates champion the group’s strength when it pulls off a complex deal and blame the market for an exaggerated price move downwards. The truth is that the market will dance to its own tune until there is clear evidence a new song is playing. That current track has a bearish baseline and OPEC+ will have to wait until the record stops spinning. Macroeconomic indicators, especially out of the US and China, have had oil watchers scaling back expectations on demand, while an uneasy quantity of oil