Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih talks to reporters during the 15th International Energy Forum Ministerial (IEF15) in Algiers, Algeria September 27, 2016. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries surprised oil traders and analysts by announcing a production deal following a hastily convened extraordinary meeting in Algiers on Wednesday. The Algiers agreement seems to have been designed to engineer an increase in prices by changing market sentiment rather than reducing the physical supply of crude. OPEC issued a statement of just under 700 words following the meeting. The operative parts, which consisted of two paragraphs or 105 words, recorded two decisions: (1) OPEC’s 14 members committed themselves to a collective production target ranging between 32.5 million and 33.0 million barrels per day. (2) A high-level committee will be established to study and recommend the implementation of the production level by individual member countries and consult with non-OPEC oil producing […]