After five days of difficult talks that exposed new rifts between core members, OPEC+ agreed to gently ease output cuts next year. The deal appeared to satisfy the oil market and most of the cartel’s members, but strained the group’s unity and set up testing times ahead.
Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, de facto leader of the group alongside his Russian counterpart, was frank that the deal was hard-won.
“It’s very excruciating, it’s very tiring,” Prince Abdulaziz told reporters after the meeting on Thursday. “If you want to work with 23 countries, you have to be very congenial to the idea of flexibility.”
