It looks like a case of as you were. Major producers such as Russia and Saudi Arabia were already pumping oil at very high levels in January: Russia’s daily production was its second-highest level on record. Arguably, even an agreement to cap production at such levels wouldn’t have made much difference to global oil supply. The U.S. has these days become the swing producer in global oil markets, thanks to the shale revolution. Output there has started declining, and the International Energy Agency estimates overall non-OPEC production to fall by 700,000 barrels a day this year. Offsetting that, Iran appears determined to pump more oil: It has sped up production to around 3.3 million barrels a day since sanctions were lifted, and Tehran has vowed to hit 4 million barrels a day. Bloomberg News OPEC’s power over world oil markets has been steadily waning in recent years. The cartel […]