Oil causes trouble, again

Elevated crude prices will create complications

The international crude oil markets have been roiled by concern about supply crunches, with the price of a barrel reaching levels not seen since last year. This has come on the back of news that two dominant producers for the export market, Saudi Arabia and the Russian Federation, intend to extend their voluntary cuts in the supply of oil for three months. The Saudis have promised to reduce output by a million barrels per day, and the Russians by 300,000 barrels a day. This would keep oil supply constrained into the winter months, when energy requirements in the Northern Hemisphere