The weekend’s major news was that after four days of haggling amongst the OPEC+ grouping and Mexico, and some arm twisting by the U.S. President, an underwhelming 9.7-million-barrel production cut was agreed on Sunday. Elsewhere COVID-19 continues to rampage across the United States, although pleasingly, Spain and Italy’s infection and death rates appear to be continuing to improve. Holidays will continue to impact market liquidity today, with the Jewish Passover holiday continuing. Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong closed for Easter Monday along with all of Europe and Canada, with regional holidays in India.
Turning back to the OPEC+ agreement, early futures trading on has been remarkably sedate, with WTI futures almost flat. That may have more to do though, with the sheer volume of countries on holiday, rather than any OPEC+ congratulations. Looking into the nuts and bolts of the agreement, Mexico had refused to cut by more than 100,000 barrels a day – its target…
