Early on Tuesday, following their meeting in Vienna, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced a nine-month extension to the existing agreement to limit oil production. The initial deal was reached in 2017 and this will extend the current limits until March of 2020. On its face, this seems like a win for the cartel, especially as agreement was reached at a time of massive divisions and rancor within the group, particularly the Middle Eastern countries that form its core. Look a little deeper into the leadup to the announcement and the overall situation with oil, however, and there is evidence of fundamental changes that could well result in the death of OPEC , at least as an effective cartel. That is a call that has been made many times and by many people in the past, but so far, to paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of OPEC’s death […]