The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) came to a surprise agreement at informal talks this September to reduce global oil production by between 200,000 and 750,000 barrels. However, final negotiations will not be held until the official OPEC meeting in November and many wonder if regional rivals, Saudi Arabia and Iran, can make a compromise on oil production stick. The Cipher Brief sat down with Robert Richer, the Former Associate Deputy Director for Operations and Former Chief of the Near East Division at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA,) to find out what lies behind these tangled OPEC negotiations.
The Cipher Brief: As you know, OPEC came to an agreement this September to negotiate an oil supply reduction deal during their next official meeting in November, which was quite surprising given pessimistic Iranian statements going into the negotiations. Looking at relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran – the two key players at this meeting – what do you think led to this decision?
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