Oil: No relief

Opec wants to stop the price of oil from tumbling still further. On October 24, it announced a 1.5m barrel cut in daily production – about 1.8% of world demand. If the cuts stick and the price stabilises or rises, the rest of the world will suffer. But if the cartel can’t support the price, the rest of the world will suffer anyway. During the credit bubble, funds were readily available for oil purchasers, demand was strong and the price kept rising. But as soon as the avalanche of deleveraging ...