Saudi Arabia, Russia and the U.S. agreed to lead a multinational coalition in major oil-production cuts. As part of the agreement, 23 countries committed to withhold collectively 9.7 million barrels a day of oil from global markets. The deal, designed to address a mounting oil glut resulting from the coronavirus pandemic’s erosion of demand, seeks to withhold a record amount of crude from markets—over 13% of world production. The U.S. has never been so active in forging a pact like this, Benoit Faucon, Summer Said and Timothy Puko report.
One consequence of cheap oil: North America's oil industry is resorting to the desperate measure of shutting in productive wells. Producers are doing so without knowing what will happen when they try to resume production. But U.S. and Canadian oil companies have limited options. Pipelines, refiners and storage facilities are filling up. Even when there is somewhere to send oil, low prices mean that many barrels lose money, Ryan Dezember and Vipal Monga report.