OPEC = Fail

So it sounds like there with not be an OPEC deal at their meetings this month. And that is really not surprising. As much as the low price of oil sucks for them, it is not severly hurting Russia and the Sauds. Both are weathering this price deflation, and can easily continue to do so for the rest of the year. So what reason do they have to cave. The Sauds don’t wont Iran to receive foreign investment that will boost up their economy, and Russia would love to swoop in and low ball some Iranian contracts. As for the rest of OPEC, there is nothing they can do. They are all small fish to be led about by the Sauds. And Saudi Arabia still dangles the struggling US industry in front of them. And they have numbers. Aside from the Permian basin, all US shale fields are in major decline. And despite the “analysts” freaking out about insignificant weekly rig count changes, they will continue to do so. Even with the boost from the Permian and few new wells in the gulf of Mexico coming online, US production is holding flat. And once the cheap plays in the Permian are all tapped, US production will sharply decline. This is the end goal of the Sauds and has been since 2014. And as much as the rest of OPEC may want a deal, the Sauds are inevitable the only ones who can enact it.