Publications /
Policy Brief

Back
The rebound in oil prices: OPEC “fine tuning” in question
Authors
November 21, 2016

In late September 2016, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) agreement to reduce crude supply was particularly telling. Combined with the improvement of some fundamentals, the agreement in principle created the conditions for a rebound in oil prices. Speculative dynamics to benefit from this upturn are however at work in a market context where production overcapacity remains present. The price recovery remains fragile and a paradigm shift will occur only if OPEC manages to give the agreement an operational scope in the medium term. In addition to (geo)constraints and the strong policies that it implies, it is clear that the task will be a challenge. OPEC should indeed deal with the reality of global supply and engage in a policy of "fine tuning" to keep prices within a fluctuation band for improving the financial situation of its members, without however boosting the production (too much) of other producing countries.

RELATED CONTENT

  • June 16, 2022
    Africafé est une émission du Policy Center for the New South qui décrypte l’actualité des organisations africaines et de l’Afrique. A travers de courtes interviews, l’émission tente de proposer d’aborder de manière pédagogique les enjeux des organisations africaines et l’actualité du co...
  • June 10, 2022
    Avec 38 % des réserves gazières mondiales, la Russie est un acteur majeur du marché mondial du gaz. Aussi, son invasion de l’Ukraine et les sanctions qui l'accompagnent vont désorganiser ce marché. L'objet de cette étude est d'analyser les conséquences de cette désorganisation pour l'Afrique, en distinguant le marché mondial du gaz naturel (I) de celui du marché du gaz africain (II), et ce avant la crise ukrainienne. Ce qui nous conduira à tirer les conséquences et les enseignements ...
  • Authors
    May 18, 2022
    The world food price index collected for the last 60 years by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) hit its highest record in March, declining gently in April. Pandemic, war and death in Ukraine, and droughts in the last 2 years… Such a combination looks apocalyptical. Now it is adding global hunger risks, because of the food price crisis. The rise in global food prices started in mid-2020 because supply chain disruptions triggered food stockpiling. Mobility r ...
  • Authors
    May 18, 2022
    Pursuing efforts to decarbonize economies and increase energy systems’ resilience is crucial to stay within global warming limits and fight the consequences of climate change, which are becoming increasingly acute. The transition to a net-zero economy will be commodityintensive and require significant quantities of critical minerals, defined as metals and nonmetals essential to high-tech sectors. As the shift to cleaner technologies progresses, supply of critical minerals for the en ...
  • May 11, 2022
    Cet atelier a servi de plateforme pour présenter les ouvrages suivants :  - L'édition 2022 du Rapport Annuel sur la Géopolitique de l'Afrique : Ce rapport est publié annuellement par le PCNS et a pour objet de relater, étudier et analyser les faits géopolitiques majeurs qui ont jalonné...
  • May 10, 2022
    This is an exclusive interview with Rim Berahab, Senior Economist at the Policy Center for the New South, who engages with Helmut Sorge, Columnist at the Policy Center for the New South, in a conversation about the great threat of the climate crisis. Rim Berahab is the author of Chapter...
  • Authors
    May 6, 2022
    In addition to the deaths and destruction in Ukraine, the Russian invasion has caused several significant shocks to the global economy. In addition to the geopolitical consequences of the war, reinforcing the downward trend in trade globalization and financial integration, new rounds of disruptions to supply chains and higher commodity prices have already led to downward revisions in economic growth projections, accompanied by higher inflation. The commodity price shock, intensify ...
  • April 29, 2022
    Following on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic and severe drought in North Africa, the Russian invasion of Ukraine – large exporters of food and, in the case of Russia, energy— may inflict increased hunger on the food insecure in Morocco – despite mitigating measures by the government. Morocco is so far successfully shielding its large poor and vulnerable population by subsidizing essential commodities. With memories of the violent protests during the 2007/08 food and fuel crisis s ...