Of Mini-Glut and Gluttony

The petroleum cartel's leader pushes for automatic price rises

Normally, meetings of the 13-nation OPEC cartel are accompanied by pomp, pageantry and no small amount of worldwide hand wringing as the cartel's jetabout ministers swoop into distant capitals to push up the price of oil. Yet when word leaked of a secret gathering in Geneva two weeks ago of six of OPEC's top ministers, who had assembled at the invitation of Saudi Arabia to discuss pricing and production strategy, the oil-consuming nations seemed distinctly more relaxed than in the past.

That was because, for...

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