OPEC and its allies this weekend agreed to cut production next month by nearly 10 million barrels per day, a move aimed at shoring-up sagging oil prices amid the global response to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The agreement, led by OPEC's leading member Saudi Arabia, and the organization's chief counterpart, Russia, capped a weekend of furious negotiations involving not only the cartel but the Group of 20. President Trump reportedly helped broker the agreement between the Saudis and the Russians, who had been at odds since Moscow last month declined to renew a production cut agreement with OPEC.
The production cut, about 9.7 million barrels per day, is scheduled to remain in place for two months starting May 1, then begin easing through the summer and fall.
"We have demonstrated that OPEC+ is up and alive," Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, referring to OPEC's partnership with Russia and other non-cartel members, told Bloomberg News. "I'm more than happy with the deal."
Non-OPEC nations, especially the developed countries that are part of the G-20, indicated that they will contribute to the agreement by buying oil to fill their countries' petroleum reserves.
Benchmark crude oil prices rose slightly immediately after the agreement was announced Sunday, but they had largely settled to their previous prices by Monday morning. Although the agreement to cut oil production by close to 10 million barrels per day would traditionally amount to an enormous cut, global demand has fallen by as much as 30 million barrels due to the travel restrictions and business shutdowns imposed to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Brent crude, the benchmark for global oil prices and for U.S. gasoline, was fetching about $31 a barrel Monday morning. West Texas Intermediate, the bellwether for U.S. shale oil production, was selling for about $23 a barrel.
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
