Portfolio manager says OPEC+ alliance could break — sending oil prices down to $35 a barrel
An influential oil producers’ alliance could collapse if unity dissolves around output policy, according to the managing partner of investing group Clean Energy Transition.
Speaking to CNBC’s “Street Signs Europe” on Thursday, Per Lekander said waning oil demand growth and a lack of cooperation may facilitate the demise of OPEC+ — a group of 23 nations that produces roughly 40% of the world’s crude oil.
The breakup of OPEC+, Lekander said, could send oil prices careening to as low as $35 per barrel.
“In a growing market, time is your friend. You just need to wait a bit and things tighten up and improve,” Lekander said. “In a declining market, time is your enemy. You have to keep cutting, keep cutting, keep cutting.”
He added, “The more negative growth [there] is, and the less cooperation you have — and remember the last OPEC decision, it was really the Saudis doing it on their own … so I would say, if my forecast is correct, and I’m very sure it is … it is going to break.”
A spokesperson for OPEC was not immediately available to comment.
OPEC+ has been trimming oil production since November. Oil prices, which are down sharply year-to-date, were trading slightly higher on Thursday afternoon.
Brent crude futures with September expiry were up around 0.8% at $83.53 a barrel at around midday London time, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures with September delivery rose 1% to trade at $79.56 a barrel. Both contracts are up over 12% so far this month.
“There was a period in the 1990s and the 2000s where supply was so much, they couldn’t jack up the price, but for most of the time, the oil price since 1974 has been artificially too high,” Lekander said.
“If the cartel can’t operate, I would say short-term you go to $35 and mid-term probably $45,” he added.
The OPEC+ group has sought to distance itself from accusations of cartel behavior, saying its policies target global supply inventories, rather than specific fixed prices. Nevertheless, some Middle East nations in the coalition, which heavily depend on fossil fuel revenues, list oil price assumptions and forecasts in their national budget plans.
OPEC and allies
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries was initially formed in 1960 by five founding members: Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. The alliance rose to international prominence through the following decade and has gradually expanded. OPEC joined forces with 10 non-OPEC partners — including heavyweight Russia — to jointly agree production policy in 2016, informally creating the coalition known as OPEC+.
OPEC itself is actively seeking to recruit new members to the alliance, Secretary-General Haitham al-Ghais said in early July.
OPEC+ officials have frequently stressed the group’s unity in policy-making, although allied countries typically also vie to protect national interests when accepting output commitments. OPEC+ cooperation briefly ceased for one month in 2020, triggering a price war as Russia and Saudi Arabia flooded the market. The alliance later reunited in May of that year, agreeing stark production cuts to address the drop in global demand triggered by lower transport fuel consumption, after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, the OPEC+ alliance has been careful to telegraph unity in its decision-making, including in its voluntary production cuts.
In addition to their coalition commitments, several OPEC+ members are now carrying out 1.66 million barrels per day of discretionary output declines until the end of 2024. Saudi Arabia and Russia are further implementing an additional 1 million-barrels-per-day and a 500,000 barrels-per-day drop in their production and exports over July and August, respectively.
The U.S., which is not a member of the OPEC+ group, has repeatedly called on the alliance to pump more to help the global economy and has criticized Riyadh’s cooperation with Moscow following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, has frequently ignored Washington’s demands and reportedly said earlier this month that it would do “whatever necessary” to support the market.
Both OPEC+ officials and the Paris-based International Energy Agency have signaled a potential supply crunch in the second half of the year, when the institutions anticipate a pickup in demand.
A technical committee of the OPEC+ group, the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee, will meet early next month to assess compliance and market fundamentals. The JMMC cannot change the existing OPEC+ policy, but it can call for a meeting of the group’s ministers to do so.
A fully electric Isuzu pickup truck? That’s right. The D-MAX EV is Isuzu’s first electric pickup, and it will be rolling in the next few months. After kicking off mass production, Isuzu said the new EV pickup will “match the performance of existing diesel models,” boasting high towing capacity and payload.
Isuzu’s first electric pickup is launching in 2025
Isuzu announced on Tuesday that the D-MAX EV has officially entered mass production. The company has started building left-hand drive models, which will be shipped to Europe in the third quarter of 2025.
By the end of the year, production of right-hand drive models will begin for the UK, with sales expected to start in 2026.
The electric pickup is nearly identical to Isuzu’s popular gas-powered D-MAX, but swaps the diesel powertrain for a pair of electric motors. The D-MAX EV features new e-Axles, one on the front and the other at the rear, for a full-time 4WD system.
The dual-motor powertrain enables it to match the performance of existing diesel models, with a combined 188 hp (140 kW) and a maximum torque of 240 lb-ft (325 Nm).
It can also tow over 7,700 lbs (3,500 kg) with a maximum payload of over 2,200 lbs (1,010 kg). That’s about the same as the D-MAX diesel, which has a 3,500 kg towing capacity and a payload capacity of up to 1,200 kg.
Powered by a 66.9 kWh battery, Isuzu’s first electric pickup boasts a driving range of up to 263 km (162 miles) on the WLTP. In the city, it can have a driving range of up to 224 miles (361 km).
| Isuzu D-Max EV specs | |
| Drive System | Full-time 4×4 |
| Battery Type | Lithium-ion |
| Battery Capacity | 66.9 kWh |
| Max Output | 130 kW (174 hp) |
| Max Torque | 325 Nm |
| Max Speed | Over 130 km/h (+80 mph) |
| Max Payload | 1,000 kg (+2,200 lbs) |
| Max Towing Capacity | 3.5t (+7,700 lbs) |
Built for on and off-road performance, the rugged electric pickup features over 8″ (210 mm) of ground clearance with a wading depth of nearly 24″ (600 mm).
Although prices have not been announced, the D-MAX EV is expected to start slightly higher than the diesel model, which has a base price of around € 36,500 ($41,600).
Isuzu’s popular D-MAX is sold in over 100 countries, including Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Central and South America. The electric version will arrive in Europe in the next few months, followed by the UK and other regions in 2026.
The electric D-MAX will compete with the Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger, and other electric pickups, such as Geely’s Radar R6, BYD’s Shark, and Ford’s F-150 Lightning.
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For the first time in five years, a Tesla insider required to report Tesla stock transactions bought stocks rather than selling them.
But the transaction is so small that it makes the whole situation hilarious.
Insiders in public companies are top executives and board members who are required to report to the SEC any transaction related to the company’s stock.
For Tesla, it has become a running joke that insiders only sell, never buy the stock.
This has been true without exception for years.
We don’t know as much about executives as Tesla has a very short top executive bench who are required to file transactions. However, when it comes to its board members, they have been selling at an impressive rate.
We recently reported on Kimball Musk, Elon’s brother, and Tesla’s Chief Financial Officer Taneja Vaibhav recently selling ahead of a recent drop in the company’s stock price.
Tesla’s chairwoman, Robyn Denholm, also sold $33 million worth of Tesla shares in February and over $100 million in the 3 months prior.
However, we now have confirmation that a Tesla board member is buying, rather than selling.
Joe Gebbia, the Airbnb co-founder who joined Tesla’s board in 2022, confirmed that he bought 4,000 shares in Tesla last week worth about $1 million:
Electrek’s Take
Gebbia is estimated to be worth over $7 billion. Therefore, his purchase of $1 million worth of Tesla stock would be equivalent to my buying a fractional share in Tesla.
Furthermore, the disclosure confirmed that despite being on the board for the last 3 years, Gebbia owned only 111 shares in Tesla before the transaction.
That’s quite the show of confidence in Tesla.
Thie whole situation with the board is disappointing. Tesla’s core business is melting. The company reported its worst quarter in years last week, and the stock surged 20%.
None of it makes any sense.
The board is sitting on its hands while the most powerful force accelerating the advent of electric transport is being destroyed in favor of nonsensical predictions about the potential of solving self-driving and humanoid robots.
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Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Venmo, long a centerpiece of PayPal‘s growth story but often criticized for its lack of monetization, is becoming a bigger contributor to the business.
PayPal said Tuesday in its first-quarter earnings release that revenue at Venmo increased 20% year-over-year in the first quarter, though the company didn’t provide a dollar figure. PayPal acquired Venmo in 2013 through the acquisition of parent company Braintree.
While it’s long been a popular consumer service for sending money to friends, Venmo’s ability to drive meaningful revenue has been a major question mark for investors, especially as competition from rivals like Zelle and Square Cash has intensified.
Venmo’s total payment volume rose 10% from a year earlier, but revenue grew twice as fast, reflecting the business opportunity. Venmo only gets revenue from specific products like Pay with Venmo at online checkout, Venmo debit cards, and instant transfers, but not from peer-to-peer payments.
Ahead of the earnings report, Jefferies analysts noted that Venmo revenue growth appeared to be “accelerating sharply” and flagged its rising contribution to branded checkout as a key area to watch. Compass Point analysts similarly said that while competition from Zelle and Square Cash remains fierce, Venmo’s traction with debit cards and online checkout could “open up new monetization avenues” if adoption trends continue.
The company added nearly 2 million first-time PayPal and Venmo debit card users during the quarter, and total debit card payment volume across PayPal and Venmo climbed more than 60%. Meanwhile, Pay with Venmo transaction volume surged 50% year over year, and Venmo debit card monthly active users grew about 40%.
PayPal reported better-than-expected earnings for the quarter but missed on revenue. The company reaffirmed its full-year guidance, citing macroeconomic uncertainty.
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