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LONDON — The members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cartel of oil producers are meeting with their allies on Thursday to see if they can reach an accord on extending production cuts over the coming months.

The video-conference meeting of the OPEC+ grouping was pushed back from Tuesday and comes after three days of inconclusive discussions among the 13 members of OPEC proper.

Observers say the postponement points to an agreement being harder to reach than initially thought.

The meeting was originally scheduled for 13:00 GMT but eventually started almost two hours later.

The first wave of the coronavirus pandemic sent oil demand — and prices — plummeting in the spring, with the benchmark American contract even going into negative territory for the first time in history.

After tough negotiations in April, OPEC+ — which includes Russia — agreed on drastic production cuts in order to try to put a floor under oil prices.

Despite hitting producers' revenues hard, those cuts did help drag prices back up again.

However, the second wave of the pandemic has dashed hopes of a rapid "V-shaped" recovery for the economy and for oil demand.

Most producers, including OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia, therefore favour an extension of the current agreement, which entails a cut of 7.7 million barrels per day (bpd) and was scheduled to be eased to 5.8 million bpd on January 1.

"OPEC and allies are said to be leaning towards a rollover of current cuts with a gradual increase in output," according to analyst Neil Wilson from Markets.com."Whether the easing would begin in January or after the three-month delay discussed before the meeting is unclear," wrote Stephen Innes of Axi.

After falling slightly in early Thursday trading, prices for both the US crude oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Europe's Brent North Sea were holding steady just after the start of the OPEC+ meeting, at $45.30 and $48.36, respectively.

Thorny subjects 

Markets were expecting producers to be able to agree on an extension of three to six months, with many viewing Monday's meeting as a formality to sign it off.

But a recent surge in crude prices — up by 25 per cent over the course of November — together with positive news from several companies on coronavirus vaccines means some countries may need more convincing of the need for further sacrifices.

Meanwhile, the perennially thorny subject of whether all members are respecting production quotas laid down in previous agreements seems to once again be on the table.

Some insist that those who are currently overproducing be made to comply before further restrictions are imposed.

"It is unlikely that the strict implementation of the agreed cuts... will be achieved, which will undermine their effectiveness and confidence in the group," according to Eugen Weinberg of Commerzbank.

The cartel will also have to pay attention to developments in the three members which have been granted exemptions from quotas — Libya, Iran and Venezuela.

Libya's production had been almost wiped out by civil conflict but has spiked since October and now stands at over 1 million bpd, according to the country's National Oil Corporation.

In the longer term, Iran's offer on the oil market may also increase if the incoming US administration pursues a policy of detente with Tehran and relaxes sanctions.

That would lead hundreds of thousands of barrels coming on to the market, exerting a fresh downward pressure on prices.

LONDON — Shoppers returned to England’s high streets on Wednesday as shops reopened following the end of a four-week coronavirus lockdown.

On a day dubbed “Wild Wednesday” because of an expectation of huge numbers of shoppers, customers wearing masks and laden with bags flocked to stores on Oxford Street in central London.

One customer, Charlotte Cobb, told AFP the latest lockdown had been “tricky” but said she was “just so happy to be back”. “With Christmas, it’s just brilliant”, she said.

“I’m really excited.”

At Selfridges’ flagship department store, staff greeted crowds with applause and a sequined Santa Claus danced under glittering silver disco balls as customers shopped.

Store director, Maeve Wall said it was a Christmas “like no other,” and “certainly not one we would have anticipated”.

“It’s about making the experience as pleasurable as we can for customers, so we will maintain the fun and excitement,” she added.

The easing of restrictions has come as a relief to the hard-hit retail industry. Non-essential shops were forced to close, compounding losses made during lockdown from March to June.

But a new regional system for curbing the spread of the coronavirus is now in place, with parts of the country in the highest of three tiers still effectively shuttered.

The system — designed to allow families and friends to gather at Christmas — has been criticised as doing little to reinstate cherished freedoms and help the ailing economy.

Most of England’s 55 million population has gone straight into Tier 2 or 3, depending on local infection rates, limiting household mixing and the reopening of the hospitality sector.

Just 1 per cent of the country — the southwest county of Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight in the south — are in the least restrictive Tier 1.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, himself a COVID survivor, succeeded in winning a vote on the measures in parliament on Tuesday night, despite opposition within his own Conservative ranks.

Economic concerns 

Hopes that life could return to normal came a step closer after Britain announced approval had been given to roll out Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID jab from next week.

The government, under pressure after 59,000 deaths in the outbreak, hopes to use it and other vaccines due to be given the green light alongside rapid community testing.

Relief also came for some of the most vulnerable as family and friends were allowed to visit care home residents for the first time in eight months.

Two visitors for each resident will be allowed twice a week, provided the visitors test negative for the virus. Physical contact is allowed using infection control measures.

Mixing of households outside support bubbles remains banned under the guidelines, although individuals can meet in groups of six outside.

London — Britain’s capital and driving force of the UK economy — is in Tier 2, meaning pubs where food is served and restaurants can reopen, obeying social distancing rules.

But in Tier 3 areas, which take in some 23 million people and includes Britain’s second city Birmingham, hospitality venues will remain closed except for takeaways.

Shopkeeper Robert, in Manchester, northwest England, said rates of infection had fallen in the city and surrounding area in recent weeks, but the area was in Tier 3.

“It makes no sense to me. And especially all the businesses now — hospitality... pubs, restaurants, bars, etc. — they’re going to suffer,” he added.

The restrictions have prompted fresh concerns for the economy, which finance minister Rishi Sunak said is facing a 11.3 per cent contraction this year — the worst in 300 years.

Those fears were stoked further this week by the collapse of retail group Arcadia, which owns popular high-street stores Topshop and Burton, and the Debenhams chain.

They have been forced into administration, blaming the impact of coronavirus restrictions on trade already under pressure from online competitors.

BEIRUT — Lebanon's economy is sinking into a "deliberate depression", the World Bank said on Tuesday in a damning report stressing the authorities' failure to tackle the crisis.

The fall 2020 edition of the Lebanon Economic Monitor predicted the economy will have contracted by 19.2 per cent this year and projected a debt-to-GDP ratio of 194 per cent next year.

"A year into Lebanon's severe economic crisis, deliberate lack of effective policy action by authorities has subjected the economy to an arduous and prolonged depression," a World Bank statement said.

Lebanon's economy started collapsing last year as a result of years of corrupt practices and mismanagement.

The crisis was made worse by a nationwide wave of anti-government protests that paralysed the country late last year and the COVID-19 pandemic this year.

The August 4 Beirut Port blast, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history, brought the country to its knees and further fuelled public distrust.

"Lebanon is suffering from a dangerous depletion of resources, including human capital, with brain drain becoming an increasingly desperate option," the World Bank warned.

In 2020, Lebanon defaulted on its debt, banks imposed capital controls and inflation has reached triple-digit rates, dragging the country into its worst ever economic crisis.

Instead of taking emergency measures to rescue the economy, Lebanon's political elite has continued to dither and bicker.

The previous government headed by Hassan Diab failed to adopt ambitious policies to tackle the crisis. It resigned under pressure over the blast nearly four months ago and a new cabinet has yet to be formed.

"Lack of political consensus on national priorities severely impedes Lebanon's ability to implement long-term and visionary development policies," said Saroj Kumar Jha, World Bank regional director.

He called for the quick formation of a new government capable of implementing short-term emergency measures and addressing long-term structural challenges.

"This is imperative to restore the confidence of the people of Lebanon," he said.

An annual index compiled by Gallup that tracks people's experience of stress and sadness said "no other country in the world saw negative experiences skyrocket across the board as much as Lebanon".

The Negative Experience Index's data was collected before the Beirut port blast, Lebanon's worst ever peace time disaster.

LONDON — As the coronavirus pandemic continues to weigh on global oil demand, the OPEC oil producers' club on Monday began a meeting in which they are expected to decide on an extension of production cuts.

"2020 continues to be a year of immense challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic," Abdelmadjid Attar, who currently holds the rotating presidency of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and is also Algeria's energy minister, said in a speech broadcast live at the beginning of the group's videoconference meeting.

The common goal of the 13 member states, who will be joined by Russia and other allies forming the OPEC+ grouping on Tuesday, is to keep afloat a crude market devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic and which is slowly recovering from the depths into which prices plunged at the end of April.

That month, OPEC members agreed to cut production by 7.7 million barrels per day (bpd), which was meant to be eased to 5.8 million bpd in January 2021.

However, most observers expect the cut instead to be extended by three to six months to take into account the ongoing effects of the virus.

“A second wave of the pandemic and related lockdowns put a damper on demand," Attar told the ministerial meeting.

"The shock to the oil industry is massive and its severe impacts will likely reverberate in the years to come," Attar said.

Despite encouraging news from trials for vaccines by pharmaceutical companies, global deployment would take time and its effects might not become significantly apparent before the second half of 2021, Attar cautioned.

Just this March, the last of their meetings to be held at OPEC headquarters in Vienna before the pandemic forced them online turned into a fiasco when Saudi Arabia and key ally Russia failed to reach an agreement and spent the next month engaged in a fratricidal price war.

Whether all members are currently sticking to the output quotas that have already been assigned to them has also become a sensitive topic.

Those exceeding their allotted output — foremost among them Iraq and Nigeria — regularly come in for a scolding from Prince Abdelaziz Bin Salman, energy minister of OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia.

Crude oil prices have picked up by 25 percent since the beginning of the month and have returned to roughly their pre-pandemic levels of between 45 and 50 dollars per barrel for both the US benchmark, West Texas Intermediate, and Europe's Brent North Sea contracts.

However, they were down on Monday morning in what analysts say was a sign of investor jitters ahead of the meeting.

GENEVA — A plan in Switzerland to impose the world’s strictest corporate responsibility rules, which would have made Swiss-headquartered multinationals liable for abusive business practices worldwide, failed to pass in a vote on Sunday.

The proposal would have amended the Swiss constitution and forced such companies to ensure they and their suppliers respected strict human rights and environmental protection standards.

But it failed to reach the double majority required for initiatives to pass, under federal Switzerland’s system of direct democracy.

Initiatives require support from a majority of voters nationwide, and from a majority of Switzerland’s 23 cantons, three of which are split in half.

While Swiss voters overall backed the initiative by a very narrow margin, a majority in most cantons voted against it.

Some 1,299,173 voters, or 50.7 per cent, backed the initiative, according to full results published by the ATS national news agency. The turnout was 46.7 per cent.

However, it only achieved a majority in eight-and-a-half cantons — including the four major cities of Zurich, Geneva, Basel and the capital Bern — with the rest voting against.

Softer counter-proposal triggered 

The initiative was launched by an alliance of 130 non-governmental organisations and had the backing of trade unions and church groups.

It was opposed by both the government and parliament, which warned that while its intention was good, the proposed legislation went “too far”.

The rejection by voters automatically activated the government’s counter-proposal, which also requires companies to report on rights, environmental protections and corruption issues — but without being liable for violations.

Supporters of the rejected initiative plastered Swiss towns and cities with posters highlighting environmental degradation and human suffering caused by Swiss-based companies.

Multinationals are important drivers of the Swiss economy, which at the end of 2018 counted close to 29,000 such corporations, accounting for more than a quarter of all jobs in the country, according to official statistics.

The Swiss business community argued that the amendments could have been detrimental for all Swiss companies, not just those that behave badly.

Businesses and employer organisations voiced particular concern over a provision that would have made Swiss-based firms liable for abuses committed by subsidiaries unless they could prove they had done required due diligence.

Weapons financing ban rejected 

Meanwhile voters rejected a separate proposal to ban funding companies that manufacture weapons and other materials of war — a move which could have blocked billions of dollars worth of investments.

The initiative would have barred the Swiss central bank and pension funds from investing in companies that make more than five per cent of revenues from sales of war material — while arms manufacturers would have been denied credit lines in Switzerland.

The initiative failed on both counts.

Some 1,460,755 voters, or 57.5 per cent, voted against the proposal, on a 46.4 per cent turnout, according to the results published by ATS.

Furthermore, a majority in only three-and-a-half cantons voted in favour.

Neutrality question 

Famously neutral Switzerland, which has not been to war in centuries, already bans the production of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, as well as landmines and cluster munitions.

But a coalition of peace groups and left-leaning parties sought a constitutional amendment making it illegal to finance any companies that make any form of war material, including assault rifles, tanks and their components. 

According to a report earlier this month by research group Profundo, the central bank, large banks like UBS and Credit Suisse and other Swiss financial institutions have nearly $11 billion worth of loans and investments in arms companies, including BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and Northrop.

Backers of the initiative claimed that the Swiss financial sector’s investments in arms companies were “incompatible” with Swiss neutrality.

But the government said the definition would effectively block funding of civil aviation firms such as Boeing, Airbus and Rolls Royce, and harm pensions.