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“ ‘Having been involved in the negotiations, to put it mildly, the number that OPEC+ is looking to cut is 20 Million Barrels a day, not the 10 Million that is generally being reported. If anything near this happens, and the World gets back to business from the Covid 19 …’ ”
President Donald Trump on Monday via Twitter is saying that a historic weekend deal struck between OPEC and some of the biggest oil producers on the planet could be more substantial than what has been announced.
The president’s tweet suggests that a global output cut by 9.7 million barrels a day struck by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and the U.S. could be doubled. That 20 million figure would be closer to what commodity experts say is required to sop up excess crude swirling in the market and address a shock to demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The weekend deal ends a month-long price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia that flooded the world with unneeded crude and amplified a meltdown in oil prices, but, according to critics, would only go partway toward stabilizing oil prices, which have seen a double-whammy from the Saudi-Russian price war and the pandemic.
S&P Global Platts Analytics said last week that the major oil producers needed to curtail crude production by 15 million or 20 million barrels a day over the coming months.
Oil trading on Monday, which has been choppy in the wake of the pack, picked up some steam after Trump’s tweet , with West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery CLK20, +0.04% up 84 cents, or 3.7%, at $23.60 a barrel. June Brent crude BRNM20, -0.15%, the global benchmark, was up 32 cents, or 1%, at $31.85 a barrel.
However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -2.31% and the S&P 500 index SPX, -2.17% were slumping in the first trading day of U.S. trading after the Easter holiday, with European markets remaining closed on Easter Monday.
The energy sector XLE, -1.19%, however, was the lone area in positive territory early Monday on the S&P 500.
Trump sough to make the case that a more substantial deal could avert “disaster” for battered oil and gas producers and allow companies in the oil patch to rebound “far faster than currently anticipated.”
