Oil fell below $33 per barrel after Saudi Arabia ruled out production cuts. Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said production cuts would not happen although more countries would join a deal to freeze output. Oil has slid from more than $100 a barrel in mid-2014, pressured by excess supply and a decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to abandon its traditional role of cutting production alone to boost prices.

Mr. Naimi is widely considered the most influential voice in energy policy in Saudi Arabia, which dominates the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Saudi Arabia has consistently said it will not curb production when other producing countries refuse to. With Iran preparing to add 500,000 barrels a day to global supplies now that nuclear sanctions have been lifted, the Saudi position has only hardened. The freeze announcement last week helped firm up oil prices for a few days because it signified that Saudi Arabia and Russia, the two biggest exporters, were at least talking despite their opposing political positions in Syria and elsewhere.

Did You Know???

• Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the world without a river.
• Homosexual activity in Saudi Arabia is a criminal offense that can attract the death penalty or, at the very least, a long stretch in prison with the customary public flogging as an additional punishment.
• The Saudi king’s official title is “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.” King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has been king since January 2015.