Opec’s oil cut spells more bad news for Brits

Liz Truss joins other European leaders in Prague today at the first meeting of the European Political Community. Truss’s presence is sensible, a reminder of Britain’s point that it left the EU, not Europe as a whole. It should also help relations with Emmanuel Macron given how much he has invested in this project.

One of the subjects discussed will be energy. The conversation will focus on Putin’s weaponisation of energy and how to keep the lights on this winter. But the anti-Russian alliance has suffered a blow after the news that the Opec+ countries, which include Saudi Arabia and Russia, are going to cut oil production by two million barrels a day.

Already, oil prices have risen on the production cut. The White House has angrily condemned the move. It is particularly irked given that Joe Biden had visited Saudi Arabia and met with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, despite the US view on his role in the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.