Baby, It’s a Wild World

2011 is shaping up to be quite the year. We managed to escape the End of Days, but a heady combination of natural disaster, political conflict, and financial starts and stalls have made some pessimistic (if not apocalyptic) about the future health of the major developed economies in the near term. This week delegates from the member countries of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) left their spring meeting in Vienna with many a scowl, but for the first time in twenty years, nary a resolution. Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali Al Naimi called the meeting “the worst in 16 years” after 6 of the 12 OPEC member nations, led by Iran and Venezuela, opposed a 1.5 mbd production increase to offset the loss of Libyan volumes, leaving the cartel at an effective stalemate. Download here