OPEC members said the cartel could move meet before schedule if Iraq turmoil disrupts exports, according to the WSJ.
At the end of its latest meeting last week, OPEC said it would keep its production ceiling for 2014 at 30 million barrels of oil a day and would next meet on Nov. 27.
But that plan could change if the oil supply from Iraq is disrupted. Iraqi oil exports currently run at around 2.5 million barrels of oil a day.
OPEC countries habitually and routinely exceed their export quotas so soothing words probably won’t have any effect.
My favorite OPEC quote quote lately was from Jeff Colgan a professor at American University who studied the cartel.
“OPEC rarely if ever constrains or influences the oil production rate of its member states,” he said. “A cartel needs to set tough goals and meet them; OPEC sets easy goals and fails to meet even those.”
