Commentators are turning to the past to help forecast the effect of Saudi Arabia’s decision to slash oil prices and the arrest last week of senior members of the Al-Saud family But history is being echoed in these events, not…
Tag: oil
Saudi Aramco CEO says the right things in London but investors remain cautious
Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser delivered a robustly comprehensive defence of his company’s claim to foreign investment and capacity to maintain production despite the September oil asset attacks at the Oil & Money conference in London this morning. But investors…
Turning point for Saudi Arabia
There’s plenty that’s attracted criticism of Saudi Arabian policy since King Salman succeeded to the kingdom’s throne almost five years ago and made his son Mohammed Bin Salman, now crown prince, a cabinet minister. There’s the war in Yemen and…
Saudi Arabia is a nation with the influence of a superpower in oil, finance and the Muslim world
The storm about the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi after he entered the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul in October is unlikely to pass soon. If murder has been committed, it is unforgivable. But Saudi Arabia’s status as a small nation…
Trump needs Saudi Arabia more than it needs him
It tells you something when an American president talks openly about his unsuccessful attempts to persuade another country to do what he wishes. But that’s what happened yesterday during President Trump’s unscripted speech to supporters in Mississippi. Trump referred to…
Moscow, oil and the Middle East game of nations 2018
Russia backs Iran and Syria but is doing deals with Israel and Saudi Arabia Oil is the key in critical Middle East developments this May. After meeting Syria’s President Asad in Sochi on 17 May, Russian President Putin said that…
Trump’s Jerusalem statement is due to growing US energy independence, top energy department official says
Dan Brouillette. Credit: Washington Examiner Deputy US energy secretary Dan Brouillette has said in an interview published yesterday that President Trump’s announcement that the US will recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is evidence that policies designed to reduce dependence on…
New energy deal of the century
Opec secretary general Mohammed Barkindo this week stoked expectations that the Opec-non-Opec “energy deal of the century” will be renewed The 173rd meeting of Opec oil ministers opens in Vienna on 30 November but the gathering will be anything but…
Qatar government needs $44bn to finance deficits to 2021
Qatar’s government will need a total of QR 159bn ($43.7bn) in 2017-21 to deal with budget deficits forecast for the period, the IMF’s 2017 Article IV report on the country says. The fund forecasts total Qatar government debt will rise…
Trump’s energy agenda defined
President Trump has declared he will free the US oil and gas industry to increase output, reduce climate action laws and end American dependence on OPEC and “any nations hostile to our interests” in his first energy policy statement. “The…