At the June OPEC meeting in Vienna, the organization's members failed to reach a consensus on policy -- but they did so diplomatically.
(HANS PUNZ/AFP/Getty Images)
Despite the cordial atmosphere of Thursday's OPEC meeting, most OPEC producers -- beyond the power players in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) -- remain in dire political, economic and financial straits. Oil prices may be improving, but for countries such as Iraq, Nigeria and Venezuela, things are going to get worse before they get better. Lacking the financial stability that has enabled GCC members to take a long-term approach to the oil crisis, these OPEC members have had to implement stopgap policies, however unsustainable or futile....
