Weak oil prices test the resolve of the eleven members of the oil cartel OPEC whose output is bound by quota agreements. The International Energy Agency reported that in June the compliance rate for OPEC members fell to 68% after reaching 80% earlier on in the years - in a nutshell, a number of OPEC countries are pumping more oil out of the ground than allowed by their quotas.

OPEC has 36% of current world crude oil production - it expects this to edge towards 40% over the next twenty years. Global oil-demand forecasts are heavily dependent in the short term on the strength of any anticipated rebound in world trade and output. In the medium term demand will be affected by the scale of a substitution towards renewables such as bio-fuels, wind and solar energy supplies. Lower oil prices makes these alternatives less profitable in the near term.