An unruly OPEC is causing problems for Russia and Saudi Arabia

The meeting in November of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners (opec+) was meant to be a staid affair. Instead, the summit was first pushed back from the 26th and then moved online, revealing a fracas between the cartel’s big producers and its minnows. After acquiescing to lower output quotas at their previous meeting in June, opec+’s west African members were unhappy to learn that Russia and Saudi Arabia, the bloc’s de facto leaders, wanted to further curtail output. One oil minister, Diamantino Azevedo of Angola, planned to boycott the in-person meeting altogether.