From Der Spiegel:
Despite its bluster about cutting production, the cartel has been unable to marshal its members to halt oil's sliding price.
OPEC's oil chiefs were almost begging to be taken seriously on the eve of their conference in Oran, Algeria. When Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi arrived at the Sheraton, a big glass-and-steel building in the hills above the city, he told the waiting scrum of reporters that OPEC planned to cut production by a big number. Sure enough, on Dec. 17, OPEC announced cuts that amounted to 2.2 million barrels a day. Unimpressed, the market for crude drifted lower, to around $40 (€28).
Read more ....
My Comment: Iran, Venezuela, and Russia want the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia to cut production .... but they do not want to cut their own production. They want the high prices, but are unwilling to cut their own production quotas. There is no unified consensus on what to do .... and because of this environment I am skeptical that OPEC will be able to influence prices as the world recession gets deeper in the industrialized west and the growing economies of India and China.
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