The Humbling of OPEC

Those 13 member nations cannot control each other, much less world oil

In the glittery lobby of Geneva's Hotel Intercontinental last week, reporters waited anxiously outside the grand ballroom as delegates from the 13-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries deliberated behind closed doors. For the second time in the past five weeks, OPEC's contentious band of oil ministers were debating what to do about a continuing worldwide petroleum glut that has put intense downward pressure on prices. Their main goal: to reach agreement on production quotas that would keep the cost of...

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