With little fanfare, delegates to the 23-nation coalition of oil producers called OPEC+ will plug their laptops next week into a Zoom meeting they hold at least once every two months. The proceedings typically yield in ayes all around to whatever’s planned by the Saudis and Russians who run the group. The Feb. 1 meeting is also expected to end uneventfully, with a decision to likely roll over production targets agreed in December. Ask any OPEC+ delegate what the oil-producing alliance wishes to achieve and you’ll likely hear the word “balance” come up more than once. There are actually three published goals for the ... (full story)