Running out of gas

摘要

It is a sign of remarkable times that the prospect of $100 oil is greeted with relief rather than trepidation. The price of a barrel of crude, having burst through $100 in February, peaked at $147 on July 11th. Since then it has fallen by more than a quarter. Not everyone is cheering. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) met in Vienna on September 9th to discuss how to respond to the recent slide in prices. Faced with demands from Iran and Venezuela to cut output, but mindful that high prices have encouraged a more frugal use of oil in rich countries, opec opted for a fudge. It kept its target at 28.8m barrels a day but agreed to abide more faithfully to that goal by curbing overproduction-leading to a cut in actual output of 1.8%.rnThe more hawkish countries want oil prices to remain as high as possible to fund their lavish budgets. But Saudi Arabia, opec's largest member, has exceeded its output quota over the summer to prevent further harm to its rich-world customers, already reeling from the credit crunch. That makes sense. Even countries such as Germany and Japan, that are not very dependent on borrowing, have suffered alongside those struggling in a sea of mortgage debt, such as America and Britain. The woes of the thrifty may have at least as much to do with sky-high oil prices as they do with collapsing credit markets.