High price, low demand creates production dilemma for OPEC

Trying to cultivate sympathy for OPEC's concerns is a little like trying to cultivate sympathy for Donald Trump: chances are you're going to wait awhile for a groundswell of support to form.

That said, OPEC does face a bit of a dilemma as it heads into its May meeting Thursday.

The U.S. and global economies remain in recession. There are signs that certain U.S. economic indicators are bottoming, and pointing toward recovery, but no one denies that 'recession bottom' does not mean 'robust GDP growth.' Hence, conditions in the world's largest economy can perhaps best be described as serious and guarded, but no longer on life support, to use a medical metaphor.