Saudi Arabia is continuing to maintain cordial relations with Russia
Russia offers Middle East a card in US game
Opec+ cut agreement suggests Moscow’s Middle Eastern stock remains high
A growing rift between the US and Saudi Arabia appears to be precipitating a wider political shift in the Middle East. Counter-intuitively, Russia’s clout as a possible power broker and a sought-after partner is growing, even after a disastrous military campaign in Ukraine that has exposed major shortcomings in its military and left Moscow more isolated than ever elsewhere across the globe. Analysts and Gulf officials admit that the Opec+ supply cut of 2mn bl/d, announced in early October, is mostly symbolic due to existing underproduction. Yet its political repercussions, with agreement between former energy export rivals Russia and Saudi Arabia continuing to hold firm—and jointly thumbing
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
