The cost of OPEC’s two-year price war

It has been almost two years to the day since OPEC initially decided to maintain output and wage a market-share war, which sent prices hurtling downward. The meetings, which ended in Vienna Nov. 27, 2014, left the cartel looking more fractured than ever, and sent markets into a tailspin.

The failure to place a cap on production was part of a dramatic change of course by Saudi Arabia, who for the past few decades had maintained its position as the world’s swing producer. Over the past two years many analysts and market observers have questioned whether the decision has paid off for the Saudis, who are heavily dependent on oil revenues.

It perhaps remains an open question. Saudi Arabia appears at last ready to acknowledge the economic consequences of the past two years, which has contributed to growing optimism that the cartel might manage to reach a deal at discussions in Vienna on Wednesday.

Either way, OPEC’s fateful decision in 2014 has had staggering implications on the global economy, and on member states in particular. Here’s a look at the most telling numbers. during its two-year oil price war, according to estimates by Saudi bank Jadwa Investment. The kingdom still has US$523 billion of reserves to ride out the selfinflicted pain, but that figure will likely further drop to US$460 billion by the end of 2017, Jadwa predicts.