Making the best of a low price
What is the oil cartel up to?
AN EFFECTIVE cartel requires three things: discipline, a dominant market position and barriers to entry. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries lacks all three. Its members cheat on their quotas. It supplies only 30% of the world’s oil—too little to exercise control. New producers abound.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Making the best of a low price”
From the December 6th 2014 edition
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