Saudis To Battle OPEC On Oil Prices

There are reports that Saudi Arabia may battle with its fellow OPEC members over near term oil production. The Saudis have supported high exports recently, which has helped the price of crude to drop as global economic activity has slowed.

Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al- Naimi comments about production have been cagey, but most analysts expect the fight will be won by the Saudi’s because they have the lion’s share of shipments among OPEC nations. Other members of OPEC have good reason to want to curtail shipments. Their treasury balances will be hurt by the drop in Brent from $120 to $100. These oil price hawks are willing to gamble the high prices will not knock the global economic recovery off of its axis. That argument is weak since the worldwide recovery anticipated for this year is already at great risk.

Douglas A. McIntyre