OPEC agreement not such a big deal for the world economy

Global oil prices jumped as much as 19% this week as OPEC finalised an agreement to cut production. However, this is not as big a deal as the headlines imply. Prices are only a little higher than they were in October, shortly after an output cut was first discussed, or the average over the last six months. As such, the deal is only a small positive for energy producers and only a small negative for consumers, who will still benefit from much lower prices than were assumed to be the ‘new normal’ a few years ago.