Opec strategy still a winner for members despite oil price slide

The nominal value of the group's crude production, based on the average price of a basket of OPEC crudes, surged by 33 percent last year, to $826 billion

Given oil’s plummet at the end of last year, OPEC’s strategy to stabilise the market might look a bust. But where it matters most for the cartel’s members —petroleum revenues —it’s still a winner.

Crude prices in London have sunk back to the same range when the group began production cuts in early 2017, of between $50 and $60 a barrel, as record U.S. oil output and shaky fuel demand counteract the group’s efforts. That’s below the levels most of its members need to balance government budgets.