(Bloomberg Opinion) -- After two days of high drama, low farce and long periods of tedium, the OPEC+ group of countries, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, almost agreed to cut their oil production by an initial 10 million barrels a day in response to the coronavirus-triggered collapse in demand. That “almost” is important.The drama was provided by Mexico refusing to accept its allotted cut. The farce followed when the country’s oil minister left the virtual OPEC+ meeting to hold separate talks with her U.S. and Canadian counterparts, while the other energy ministers agonized for hours over how to respond. The tedium? Well, that was just the bits in between.Mexico was asked to cut 400,000 barrels a day of production in the first phase of an OPEC+ deal that would run for an unprecedented two years. It offered one-quarter of that, and from a slightly higher baseline than what was asked for.An unlikely white knight...
(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. became the world’s epicenter for the coronavirus as deaths passed Italy, while Singapore said it will immediately impose fines on people who flout social-distancing rules.The pace of deaths slowed in Spain, France and Germany, though Italy reported the most new cases in a week. China reported 99 new cases from Saturday, 97 of which were imported. Authorities in Shanghai said 51 of the 52 new imported cases in the city came on a flight from Russia.The Pentagon is using a wartime law to fund production of N95 masks. U.S. governors sought $500 billion in federal aid to offset the economic hit from social-distancing measures. The Trump administration said it’s on track to roll out the diagnostics needed to determine when normal activities can resume.Key DevelopmentsCoronavirus Tracker: Global cases exceed 1.77 million; deaths top 108,000U.S. deaths reach 20,600China reports 99 new cases from April 11, 97 of which...
The biggest supply cut ever contemplated by the world's top oil producers is hanging in the balance as a refusal by Mexico's leftist leader to imperil his plans to rebuild state oil company Pemex has angered the Saudi prince who helped craft the deal. For the past three days, Mexico has kept the oil industry on tenterhooks by resisting Saudi pressure to sign up to global cuts worth nearly a quarter of output for participating countries, aimed at reviving prices from their lowest level in decades. The refusal by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to compromise his plan to revive Pemex by agreeing to steep cuts has shone the global spotlight on Mexico as he prioritizes his domestic agenda over the collective interests of the world's largest oil producers....
