Diplomatic crisis

OPEC+ members did not achieved significant progress over the weekend to agree on a production policy going forward. The group is meeting today for another round of talks, where Saudi Arabia and Russia will try to persuade the UAE to join the rest of the group in their production agreement extension. ICE Brent prompt contracts remained elevated, at 76.3 $/b, likely pricing an uncertain outcome of the OPEC meeting. Crude markets remained quite stable over this period, with September out of the money calls and puts options not moving much, despite the remote threat of the UAE’s departure from the group of producers.