With the 168th OPEC meeting on Friday, many people are wondering why the OPEC meeting matters.
After all, the last summit saw no major outcomes as the cartel decided to keep production unchanged.
But there are two reasons why this meeting could have a big impact on the 2016 oil market...
Will OPEC cut oil production?
That's the biggest question on investors' minds as oil ministers from OPEC's 12 nations congregate in Vienna this week.
Here's the one factor that OPEC's decision hinges on...
At today's OPEC meeting, the cartel announced it would maintain its collective output at 30 million barrels a day.
The decision marks the second time since November that OPEC will defy the global supply glut and weak oil prices.
But OPEC has been lying about its production ceiling all along...
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will hold its first oil summit of the year in Vienna tomorrow.
The OPEC meeting will be the first since the cartel fired off the first shot in the "price war" last November.
Here's what you should keep an eye on during the summit...
Media elites and Wall Street cheerleaders are greeting lower oil prices with open arms.
Investors should beware these self-appointed experts bearing gifts.
Oil prices are falling for reasons that should be surprising to nobody: supply has been rising and demand has been falling. If prolonged, which it is likely to be, the drop in oil prices is going to be destabilizing geopolitically and damaging economically.
For those who want to believe in a magical economic rebirth as the price of oil falls, well, good luck with that.
Last week's OPEC meeting in Vienna, Austria, was billed as the most important gathering of the cartel in years, with huge implications for crude oil prices.
The meeting's importance was felt almost immediately. After OPEC nations announced they would not cut oil production, oil prices plummeted. WTI crude oil is now down 37.8% from June and Brent oil is down nearly 40%.
At the OPEC meeting in Vienna last week, the cartel decided to maintain oil production levels. WTI crude oil prices fell to $63.72 in the aftermath. That's a 37.8% drop since June.
Money Morning's Global Energy Strategist Dr. Kent Moors is in Dubai this week meeting with some of the world's top oil policymakers.
Here's his inside look at OPEC's impact on oil prices...
As the price of oil continues to fall, all eyes are on the OPEC meeting scheduled for tomorrow (Thursday, Nov. 27).
The biggest decision for the 12 member nations is whether to curb production. That would be done in an effort to stabilize global oil prices.
Here's the impact the various outcomes of tomorrow's meeting would have on crude oil prices...
