Saudi Arabia shocked the markets this week when it said it would not keep up the voluntary portion of the cuts–the extra cuts beyond the official OPEC+ agreement–past June. The news came the day after the group agreed to extend the current OPEC production quota agreement through July in an effort to continue to draw down global inventories. Next week, a panel led by OPEC will meet to review the market but are not scheduled to make any decisions about extending cuts. Slow demand for fuels has reportedly forced Exxon to postpone expansion work at its Beaumont refinery in Texas, originally set to be completed by 2022. Expansion work, for now, will be pushed to a 2023 completion date. The refinery would handle Exxon’s increasing Permian production, but presently is operating a reduced capacity due to faltering gasoline demand for jet fuel. Politics, Geopolitics & […]