Global Outlook Elsewhere, oil markets already have begun to...

Global Outlook

Elsewhere, oil markets already have begun to pressure governments that rely on higher prices to finance their budgets, fuel subsidies to citizens and expand drilling. Venezuela’s oil income has fallen by 35 percent, President Nicolas Maduro said on state television Nov. 19.

Nigeria increased interest rates for the first time in three years on Nov. 26 and devalued its currency. The government is planning to cut spending by 6 percent next year, Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said Nov. 16. Both Nigeria and Venezuela are part of OPEC.

Several countries within OPEC such as Iran, Iraq, Nigeria and Venezuela, as well as non-OPEC states such as Russia and Norway, will probably have to cut production with lower oil prices in 2015 and beyond, Roger Read, an analyst at Wells Fargo, said yesterday in a note to investors.