OPEC Expected to Prolong Curbs to Ease Global Glut at Vienna Meeting
- All but one analyst surveyed see OPEC extending output cuts
- There’s no consensus on whether group will attain its goal
Emirates NBD's Bell Sees Bloated Oil Market
OPEC will extend an accord that trims production, even as surging U.S. output threatens the group’s goal of draining excess supply, according to a Bloomberg survey.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies will prolong the curbs for at least six months when ministers meet on May 25 in Vienna, according to 24 of 25 analysts polled this week. The respondents were split on whether the extension will last for six or nine months, and were also at odds over the probability of the cuts rebalancing the market.
“They don’t have much of a choice other than to extend the cuts," Kim Brady, senior managing director at SOLIC Capital in Evanston, Illinois, said by telephone. “They have said they will do whatever needs to be done to balance the market. They haven’t quite achieved that yet."