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OPEC Highlights: The Stories That Count From Vienna Oil Marathon

A marathon of oil diplomacy is finally at an end. Here are the highlights.

OPEC Highlights: The Stories That Count From Vienna Oil Marathon
A sign sits outside the building during the 168th Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting in Vienna. (Photographer: Lisi Niesner/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- A marathon of oil diplomacy is finally at an end. After a week of ministers criss-crossing Vienna for conferences, committee meetings and one-to-one sit-downs, the show has finally left town. OPEC and its allies have a deal to increase production, even if nobody can agree by how much. From the thousands of headlines produced by the OPEC press corps, here are the ones that really matter.

Al-Falih has the last word

By winning an OPEC deal that allows for higher production -- albeit fudged as a return to compliance -- Saudi Arabia and Russia got what they wanted, cementing the hold of the world’s two biggest oil exporters. And after confusion about exactly how much more oil would be hitting the global market, Saudi Oil Minister Khalid Al-Falih used the final press conference to set the record straight. Full story...

Iran and sanctions

In an interview with Bloomberg TV’s Annmarie Hordern, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said that he didn’t expect buyers of its oil will get sanctions waivers from the U.S. government. He also said European majors Total SA and Royal Dutch Shell Plc have already stopped buying its crude. All in all, it’s a signal that Iran exports may fall much further, more quickly than expected. Full story...

Permian plateau

America’s hottest shale play, where production has surged to 3.3 million barrels a day, may need to take a breather, altering the global oil supply equation over the next year. In an interview at OPEC’s Oil Seminar last week, industry godfather Scott Sheffield said that a lack of pipeline capacity to export crude to customers will force producers to shut in wells. Full story...

OPEC’s future

The alliance OPEC struck with Russia two years ago may become more permanent. The so-called OPEC+ group of 24 countries is working on creating a new body with a charter and permanent secretariat. It’s another reason why the oil-market partnership between Russia and Saudi Arabia may be here to stay. Full story...

--With assistance from Grant Smith, Javier Blas, Salma El Wardany, Elena Mazneva, Nayla Razzouk, Wael Mahdi, Annmarie Hordern, Laura Hurst, Julian Lee and Caroline Connan.

To contact the reporter on this story: Will Kennedy in London at wkennedy3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Will Kennedy at wkennedy3@bloomberg.net, Claudia Carpenter, Bruce Stanley

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