What Opec’s squabbling means for oil

Failure of the "Opec+" oil cartel to reach agreement after a disastrous meeting has seen oil prices soar.

Opec meeting
A more quarrelsome cartel implies more volatile markets
(Image credit: © REUTERS / Alamy)

In March last year, oil cartel Opec+ “held a disastrous meeting in which it failed miserably to reach an agreement”, says John Authers on Bloomberg. Oil prices subsequently plunged. This month “Opec+ has held another disastrous meeting in which it failed miserably to reach an agreement”.

The result? Prices have risen. Brent crude oil prices have soared above $77 a barrel, the highest level since October 2018. US oil benchmark WTI briefly hit $76.98 a barrel, a seven-year high.

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Markets editor

Alex is an investment writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2015. He has been the magazine’s markets editor since 2019. 

Alex has a passion for demystifying the often arcane world of finance for a general readership. While financial media tends to focus compulsively on the latest trend, the best opportunities can lie forgotten elsewhere. 

He is especially interested in European equities – where his fluent French helps him to cover the continent’s largest bourse – and emerging markets, where his experience living in Beijing, and conversational Chinese, prove useful. 

Hailing from Leeds, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. He also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Manchester.