Oil veteran and ex-Aramco director Andrew Gould says OPEC - the 'so-called central bank of oil' - has disappeared

• "OPEC, as the so-called central bank of oil, has disappeared," oil industry veteran Andrew Gould told the Financial Times on Wednesday.
• Gould said he believes that a deal between OPEC and other major oil producers would make no difference.

• Oil markets are faced with great uncertainty ahead of a critical OPEC+ meeting scheduled for Thursday. The meeting was delayed from Monday after disagreements between Saudi Arabia and Russia led to further doubt on a deal.

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Global oil producers are expected to meet on Thursday to work on production cuts. But, former Schlumberger boss Andrew Gould thinks that would have no effect.

Gould told the Financial Times that a deal between OPEC and other producers like Russia would make no difference, given the severe drop in demand for oil.

His comments come a few weeks after he stepped down from the oil giant Saudi Aramco's board of directors.

"OPEC, as the so-called central bank of oil, has disappeared," Gould said, speaking to the FT from lockdown in Florida. He also said he found it hard to believe that the three oil exporting majors - Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the US - could reach a historic agreement. "Could the three unite? I'm sceptical."

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The oil magnate's remarks are worth noting right when investors are hoping for Thursday's OPEC+ virtual meeting to bring about further easing to the oil industry.

The US slashed its forecasted oil output on Tuesday to 11.8 million barrels per day for the rest of the year. This was in comparison to the Energy Information Administration's previous forecast of 12.99 million barrels a day.

Oil surged 13% last week on reports that OPEC and its allies would meet to discuss a production cut amid the coronavirus pandemic and that Saudi Arabia and Russia would end their price war.

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