Iran, the UAE and Libya to pose Opec+ headaches

Covid-19 has forced Opec+ to weather unprecedented oil demand destruction and oversupply. 2021 will be equally as challenging

To claim Covid-19 has clashed with the interests of Opec+ producers through 2020 is a blunt understatement when considering the struggles faced by the organisation through the year. Stark demand destruction—in excess of 10mn bl/d through much of 2020—was only made worse by a short-lived Saudi–Russian price war during April. The combination helped to explode the size of global inventories while simultaneously pushing spot prices to levels not seen in over a decade. As a result, Opec+ has been forced to undergo historic production restraint to assist in the market rebalancing effort. Despite recent improvements in the marginal oil supply-demand balance, the producers’ club will face several is