OPEC production cut may not prop price
TEXT OF STORY
Scott Jagow: OPEC holds an emergency session in Cairo tomorrow. A lot of its members are pushing for another cut in production to prop up the price of oil. But will that really do anything? Stephen Beard reports from London.
Stephen Beard: The falling price of crude has decimated OPEC’s income. Iran and Venezuela seem to be suffering the worst. They want the cartel to announce a cut in output of a million barrels a day. They hope that declaration will prop up the price.
But it may not, says Nick McGregor of brokers Redmayne Bentley:
Nick McGregor: They all say we’ll cut production by X amount, but there’s no guarantee they’ll actually do it. There is a lot of cheating goes on, and the temptation to pump a few extra barrels and make a few extra barrels is always there.
Even OPEC does not entirely trust its members. The cartel’s most reliable output data is said to come from a network of spies watching the movement of oil tankers through binoculars.
In London, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.
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