Economic security

What’s so important about the oil meeting in Doha

The fundamental cause of turmoil in oil markets since late 2014 has been too much of the stuff. With the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) refusing to cut output, with more and more oil coming from non-OPEC producers such as the United States, and, more recently, with Iran’s production increasing as the country emerges from international sanctions, the world just kept producing more oil than anyone wanted to consume, and prices tanked.

A much-watched meeting in Doha, Qatar, on Sunday is meant to change that situation by bringing many OPEC and non-OPEC countries to agree to an oil production “freeze” — building on an agreement reached in February between Saudi Arabia, Russia, Qatar and Venezuela. Under the proposed freeze, participating countries would produce only what they did in January, and no more, up through October.