It has taken 60 years for Opec linchpin Saudi Arabia to find a non-Opec partner that it could see itself settling down with. The original Opec+ agreement led by Riyadh and Moscow in 2016 was very much a marriage of convenience, and the commitment from the producer group’s leaders was decidedly one-sided. Saudi Arabia was prepared to overlook Russia’s cheating, as long as it kept up the appearance of commitment to the relationship. But it took the Covid-19 pandemic to convince both partners how much they needed each other. The world’s biggest ever oil demand slump was too much for Opec to deal with by itself. Renewing and strengthening its vows in the Opec+ partnership has put Russia’s commitment on an equal footing with Saudi Arabia’s. But as Opec marks the 60th anniversary of its formation, a niggling question remains: how can it ever go back from Opec+ to […]