OPEC+ Cuts Fail Fail To Boost Middle East Oil Prices

The OPEC+ voluntary production cuts, on paper promising curtailments amounting to 1.66 million b/d, should have been the main story for May. Regrettably for many in the Middle East, just as participating countries were preparing to curb output, the overall market sentiment worsened greatly. First it was refinery margins that forewarned of difficulties ahead, then data on Chinese manufacturing depressed markets even further and protracted negotiations on the US debt ceiling put the icing on the bearish cake. As Middle Eastern producers were thinking…