The cartel’s deal hammered out in Vienna may put a floor under the price of crude, but Saudi Arabia has failed to destroy the US fracking industry
Two years of wrangling were needed before Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Opec oil cartel could agree a cut in production at its meeting in Vienna last week.
Ever since the collapse in crude prices in 2014, the big oil-producing countries have plotted a way to regain control and improve their battered finances. But agreeing which countries would bear the pain of the steepest production cuts had proved an insurmountable challenge.