After disputes between member countries like Iran, Iraq, and Venezuela and the OPEC secretariat with regard to actual production levels surfaced in the mainstream media, OPEC came out with fresh commentaries in order to minimize the damage. Below are the key points in the whole commentaries and our take on them are marked in bold -

• OPEC’s secretary general Mohammed Burkindo, speaking in London, admitted that the members and the organization didn’t anticipate the price to remain depressed for so long. Compromises then make sense. Economic hardship has brought the members closer to that.
• He is hopeful of the finalization of the deal in November and also on the swift implementation of it.
• Russia will be a part of the deal and played a key role in securing the deal in September. Russia’s influence in the region has grown immensely and this could be seen as another policy failure of the United States.
• One of the aims of the deal is to lead to faster drops in stockpiles. We don’t see that happening fast as the current production level is at par with the demand and the stockpiles are closer to 3 billion barrels.
• Mr. Burkindo said that he expects the deal to create a more permanent framework. If possible, this would be the single most vital component and would have an immense impact not only on the market but global geopolitics as well.