No sacrifice too great as Saudi Arabia makes unilateral 1m b/d cut

Energy minister Prince Abdelaziz Bin Salman (ABS) emerged from two days of Opec+ talks on 5 January to announce that Saudi Arabia would make an unexpected 1m b/d crude production cut – repositioning the kingdom in its traditional swing producer role. ABS said Saudi Aramco would hold its February/March crude output to 8.119m b/d (its quota is 9.119m b/d), to help to reduce bloated inventories, “with the purpose of supporting our economy, the economies of our friends and Opec+ countries, and for the betterment of the industry at all levels”.