OPEC++, the sequel, has arrived

It is time to acknowledge that the US-Saudi Arabia nexus is driving a fundamental shift in OPEC strategy

There are many layers to the current oil alliance. This complexity may be unwieldly, but the greater flexibility and market share is ultimately a strength, with producers in different subsets of OPEC, OPEC+ and the ‘voluntary’ group of eight. On top of this there is the ultimate partnership driving the current strategy: Saudi Arabia and the US. After several years of deeper and deeper production cuts, the oil pact has pivoted. The eight OPEC+ producers—Algeria, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Oman, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the UAE—began unwinding some of their additional output cuts earlier this year, returning some of the 2.2m b/d layer of supply to the market. This inner circle started to increa