Anyone looking for a little price relief from oil markets shouldn't hold their breath: Acccording to Rafael Correa, president of Ecuador (which is OPEC’s smallest member), the oil cartel is prepared to reduce output and "protect" the price of oil if it falls below $100.
Correa's comments were made during a TV interview on the ETV Telerama network, and later posted on the presidential Website, according to Bloomberg news.
Ecuador, which recently rejoined the cartel after a 15-year absence, would clearly welcome the cuts. The country has struggled to maintain its daily output quota of half a million barrels—and thus would be hard-hit by any substantial price decline.
But a move by the cartel to protect the price is bad news to consumers generally, and especially in the United States, where a moderation in oil prices is widely seen as a precondition for economic recovery.
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