Opec, IEA face-off reflects oil’s evolving role

The recent disagreement between Opec and the IEA over market volatility is rooted in the seismic shift required by the oil industry to avoid catastrophic climate change

Volatility, in particular the price effects emanating in the financial markets, was the keyword as some of the biggest names in oil market analysis gathered in Vienna for the ninth joint IEA-IEF-Opec Workshop at the end of April. The hospitality of the Opec secretariat was as welcoming as ever, and the tone of the discussions was friendly and cordial. However, on the same day of the forum, the new Opec secretary-general, Haitham al-Ghais, issued a statement criticising earlier comments of Fatih Birol, the IEA executive director, who said that Opec’s recent output cuts came as a “bad surprise”. Ghais pointed the finger at the IEA and its calls for an end to investing in oil as a more likely s