Coronavirus has taken its latest victim – the world’s largest oil cartel

Since 2009, oil prices started their gradual decline, signalling the end of the fossil fuel era. But it was Covid-19 that eventually destroyed the old world, writes Vladislav Inozemtsev

The discovery of fracking has turned the US into the world's largest oil producer (Getty)

On 9 and 10 April 2020, the energy secretaries of all the largest oil producing and oil consuming nations joined each other at two webinars for debating the future of world energy.

The three months that preceded the meeting were marked by the most fascinating events in global economy. In January the world stock markets navigated uncharted waters, reaching one record high after another. By February, coronavirus paralysed the Chinese economy, before going global. In March, Russia’s breakup with Saudi Arabia sent oil prices to lows not seen since the late 1990s. So the meetings organised under the auspices of Opec+ and the G20 seemed to be very timely.

We now know what was at stake - as well as the outcome of these 20-hour debates between leaders. Formally, the global oil output was cut by 15 million barrels per day in a bold move to balance struggling production with disappearing demand. What still looks more uncertain is the future of the oil industry, since the cut might appear to be insufficient for restoring a perfect market equilibrium. We will see in the coming weeks whether the oil prices stabilise or continue a downward slide.