Opec leaves Vienna on a high, market realities may deflate hopes

If market bulls and hopeful government officials are to be believed, the 171st Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) ministerial meeting on 30 November will prove to be one of the most historic, marking a break from the Saudi-led policy of seeking market share rather than a minimum price level, which the cartel has been following since Q4 2014. After weeks of haggling, the Vienna meeting formalised the Algiers Agreement struck in late September, leading crude prices to rise above the psychologically and fiscally comforting $50 a barrel (/bbl) level, as ministers agreed that Opec would cut production for the first time since 2008 – by 1.2m b/d to 32.5m b/d from 1 January.