Forget Opec. If cartels can’t control output, they can’t control prices and in due course they fall apart, usually with a great deal of ill will in the process. The evidence of the last six months is that Opec can’t control the market — ask yourself how many Opec members want to see a price of $60 a barrel for their oil. Some in Saudi Arabia think a low price can squeeze out competing suppliers, but that feels like a justification after the fact of a fall which they can’t control. The question now is how the process of adjustment to the new price level will work.
忘掉石油输出国组织（OPEC，中文简称：欧佩克）吧。如果卡特尔联盟不能控制产量，它们就无法控制价格，到一定时候就会土崩瓦解，这个过程通常都伴随着浓浓的敌意。过去6个月证明，欧佩克无法控制市场——你可以自己想想有多少欧佩克成员国愿意以每桶60美元的价格出售本国石油。有些沙特阿拉伯人认为低价可以挤掉竞争的供应商，但这说法看起来更像是对无法控制价格下跌的既成事实所做的辩解。现在的问题是，适应新价格水平的调整过程将如何进行。