The agreement to cut global crude oil output, reached amid high drama over the Easter weekend, appears effectively to be in two parts. A short-term agreement that’s probably not enough, and a longer-term plan that has a much better chance of success. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its Russia-led allies agreed to cut output by a record 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd), after three days of intense diplomacy that had everything from a Mexican standoff to phone calls from U.S. President Donald Trump. While there is little doubt the deal is significant, it’s worth noting it was reached in response to a global economic crisis unprecedented in its scale and in the speed at which it has hit the world economy. Various members of OPEC and its allies in the group known as OPEC+ have been touting that the effective […]