Saudi Arabia braces for impact
The kingdom may have to pay a steep price for its efforts to reassert leadership in oil politics
Saudi Arabia has been portrayed as the last man standing from its oil price war with Russia and the US, which briefly dominated the market in March before Covid-19 switched the story dramatically from supply to demand. But now the bill for attempting to bring American shale producers to their knees and discomfiting Russian president Vladimir Putin may be coming due. Riyadh is beginning to shoulder a disproportionate burden for rebalancing global crude markets. And oil prices barely blipped on this week’s news of unilateral Saudi production cuts of 1mn bl/d, which came alongside other domestic moves including a VAT hike and austerity measures totalling $26.6bn, offering a glimpse of possible
Also in this section
24 February 2025
Weighed down by higher costs and lower margins, the US downstream sector is facing closures that could shrink capacity
21 February 2025
While large-scale planned LNG schemes in sub-Saharan Africa have faced fresh problems, FLNG projects are stepping into that space
20 February 2025
Greater social mobility means increased global demand for refined fuels and petrochemical products, with Asia leading the way in the expansion of refining capacity
19 February 2025
The EU would do well to ease its gas storage requirements to avoid heavy purchase costs this summer, with the targets having created market distortion while giving sellers a significant advantage over buyers
