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Breakdown of the latest developments on the global exchanges
Apr 10, 2020, 1:28 PM GMT
#Energy

OPEC+ Reaches a Contingent Deal. New Discord Between its Members Undermines the Agreement

Oil pump jacks

The highly anticipated videoconference of OPEC+ concluded yesterday after an arduous nine hours of heated discussions. The welcoming news is that Saudi Arabia and Russia have finally reached common ground in their negotiations, effectively ending the price war they started over a month ago.

Despite this, however, the Organisation once again failed to achieve full cohesion as Mexico refused to agree to the entire range of proposed production cuts. In doing so, it jeopardized everything as it ditched the accords.

According to a person familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg:

“The tentative deal would result in cuts of about 10 million barrels a day during May and June. Saudi Arabia and Russia, the biggest producers in the group, would each take output down to about 8.5 million a day, with all members agreeing to cut supply by 23%."

As regards Mexico’s stance, it is further stated that:

“[…] the nation [Mexico] is ready to reduce output by 100,000 barrels a day, far less than the 400,000 barrels a day proposed by the group, and from a higher baseline.”

Even with this monumental agreement for such massive cuts, the energy market as a whole did not take lightly to the discordance between the member-states, which underpins the likelihood of even more significant disagreements in the future.

The price of crude momentarily rose to 28.32 per barrel after the announcements were made, but ultimately closed the day at 23.17, amounting to an 11.23 per cent daily loss.

The threat of future rifts between the producers outweighed the much-anticipated production cuts at present, as the market started pricing in on potential future shocks prompted by the continually-evolving situation.

Crude oil rebounded from the 23.6 per cent Fibonacci retracement level at 26.90, which is serving as a major resistance. Subsequently, it tumbled to the 61.8 per cent Fibonacci retracement at 23.47.

The price action is currently attempting to break down below the major support at that price level.

Crude Oil 1H Price Chart