Will Tomorrow's OPEC Meeting End The Oil War Between Russia And Saudi Arabia?

Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud and Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak are seen at the beginning of an OPEC and NON-OPEC meeting in Vienna, Austria December 6, 2019. Leonhard Foeger/Reuters

CNBC: Expectations for an oil deal remain low ahead of crucial OPEC+ meeting

* Oil markets are facing their greatest moment of uncertainty in decades ahead of an OPEC and OPEC+ ⁠meeting on Thursday, which was delayed from Monday over persistent disagreements between leading member states.
* The meeting comes as oil prices are down more than 50% year to date, with global benchmark Brent crude trading at $31.94 per barrel Wednesday and U.S. West Texas Intermediate at $24.18 per barrel 9:00 a.m. ET.
* If Saudi Arabia and Russia are to cut their output — as President Donald Trump has called on them to — they want to see the U.S. play its part in cutting too.

Oil markets are facing their greatest moment of uncertainty in decades ahead of a virtual meeting of OPEC+ ⁠— the alliance of OPEC and non-OPEC producers ⁠— on Thursday, which was delayed from Monday over persistent disagreements and abrasiveness between some leading member states.

In the spotlight will be whether countries can agree to communally cut crude production in order to salvage plunging prices at a time when no one is buying oil and the world is running out of places to put it.

“Stalemate is not an option for any of the parties involved,” Nansen Saleri, CEO of Texas-based analytics firm Quantum Reservoir Impact and Saudi Aramco’s former head of reservoir management, told CNBC via phone on Tuesday. “It’s only a matter of time” until some agreement is reached, he said, predicting “a matter of weeks as opposed to months.”

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WNU Editor: OPEC's members are not on the same page on what needs to be done .... World's biggest oil producers still at odds before talks on major cuts (Reuters). But the oil traders are optimistic that a deal will be done .... Oil surges in sudden move toward the end of trading, production cuts eyed (CNBC).