OPEC+ on Wednesday decided to cut output quota by 2 million bpd. Heightened volatility in oil markets has been one of the key reasons for OPEC+ to cut output. A second reason behind the cut is the need to improve the spare capacity of some of the key oil producing nations. U.S. refinery utilization rates have been unusually strong this year. On Wednesday 5th October, OPEC+, at its 45th Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee meeting held in Vienna, agreed to cut daily oil production by 2 million barrels per day. As it was the first in-person ministerial meeting for OPEC+ since March 2020, which itself signaled that a major announcement was looming, it was fitting that the group announced the biggest oil production cut since the start of the Covid pandemic. The size of the cut, equivalent to around 2% of global daily oil production, was significantly larger than the […]