Opec down but not out
A new history of Opec says the organisation is being undermined in part by the ambitions of national oil companies
Never has Opec’s relevance—and future—been questioned more than today. This is hardly surprising. For leaving aside any discussion of price or output strategy, changes are afoot. Opec’s dominant member, Saudi Arabia, has embarked on a course aimed at ending the country’s reliance on oil. The United Arab Emirates is the region’s leading developer of renewables. And Qatar has dropped out of Opec. Media headlines suggest that Opec’s obituary is being prepared: “Opec is not dead yet, but it has lost control of the market,” said one in July 2019. “Opec losing control, share in global market,” said another in October. The perfect context, one might say, for a book entitled The Rise and Fall of Op
Also in this section
17 February 2026
The 25th WPC Energy Congress, taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 26–30 April 2026, will bring together leaders from the political, industrial, financial and technology sectors under the unifying theme “Pathways to an Energy Future for All”
17 February 2026
Siemens Energy has been active in the Kingdom for nearly a century, evolving over that time from a project-based foreign supplier to a locally operating multi-national company with its own domestic supply chain and workforce
17 February 2026
Eni’s chief operating officer for global natural resources, Guido Brusco, takes stock of the company’s key achievements over the past year, and what differentiates its strategy from those of its peers in the LNG sector and beyond
16 February 2026
As the third wave of global LNG arrives, Wood Mackenzie’s director for Europe gas and LNG, Tom Marzec-Manser, discusses with Petroleum Economist the outlook for Europe’s gas market in 2026
