Oil price: I always think that it is rather nice when the market appears to be thinking with one voice

I always think that it is rather nice when the market appears to be thinking with one voice, particularly if G Sucks is on the other side. The feedback from the Opec meeting is overwhelming cynical with most so called experts writing the obituary of the whole organisation let alone this agreement. Indeed everyone from Zak Mir to a visiting professor and chair of the Kings Policy Institute in London has written it off. The missing piece in the jigsaw is what GS has to say but as ongoing bears of the oil price they are coming from a position of weakness.

Disregarding all that, it seems that the telephone conversation that I mentioned earlier in the week between Presidents Putin and Rouhani may have swung things towards an agreement. Apparently this call took the heat out of the Saudi-Iran negotiations and may have sealed the deal, who knows, I have a healthy degree of cynicism myself but can believe anything on the right day. Recording of exports and production is better and more transparent than it used to be so I guess that come the new year we shall see who is and who isnt playing ball.

In the meantime if the agreement lasts only a while we shall see the inevitable continued rise in the rig count and something that will be welcomed by the US service companies as well as the likes of Hunting.

Finally in his first piece of policy in the energy sector it seems that President elect Trump has formally the Dakota Access pipeline as mentioned here after his election.