Today OPEC representatives are gathering in Vienna, Austria to discuss the future of their policy, especially as it pertains to limiting the production and supply of oil on the global market. For nearly two years OPEC states and Russia have been operating under self-imposed quotas in order to alleviate the oversupplied market and allow prices to grow. There has been substantial recovery in oil prices, so some analysts have argued OPEC will discuss the end to these measures this week. This is especially true when we consider Iran and Venezuela - two major oil exporters who have problems right now. Iran will be subjected to international restrictions because of the dissolution of the nuclear deal, while Venezuela is struggling financially and is unable to keep its oil industry running. Because of this other OPEC members might have to step up their game and compensate for the lost volumes of production from these two countries. Yet others have argued that OPEC should wait until oil prices are stable over $80 per barrel, which they still aren’t. We would have their decision tomorrow.
Meanwhile, today the markets in Europe were expecting an interest rate decision from the United Kingdom. The Bank of England chose to keep the interest rate unchanged at .50%.
