EmailToday's OPEC meeting dissolved with no decision being made as to what the cartel will do with its production output. The news has caused crude oil prices to erase overnight losses and surge into positive territory, back above the $100 level, as many had expected a production hike to be announced. There are conflicting reports about the timing of the next meeting, with Saudi Arabia saying the next meeting will take place in Dec, while Iran and Venezuela are reported to be discussing an extraordinary meeting in three months.
There was heightened speculation that the underlying battle at this meeting would be between OPEC's two biggest producers, Saudi Arabia and Iran, and that speculation appears to have been true. With Iran, Venezuela and Algeria all refusing to consider an increase in production, the dislocation of cartel economies looks to be the main factor driving the breakup of today's meeting. The Saudi oil minister has come out and said that they will provide the market with whatever oil it needs, which jives with reports from yesterday that the country would hike output by as much as 500K per day regardless of the outcome of the meeting.
Note that the market will also be dealing with inventory data, scheduled for 10:30 ET. Current consensus calls for a draw down of 1.4 million barrels.
