... sceptical view of the prospects for a Russian-Saudi energy partnership.
To begin with, the possibility of Russia working with OPEC as a whole is fairly low, since that organisation is beset by internal dissent. The primary line of confrontation lies between Saudi Arabia's position, advocating a freeze on oil production, and the plans by Iran and Iraq to increase output. It was the Saudis' unwillingness to agree a freeze unless Iran joined the agreement that
scuppered ...
... current agreement and resuming sanctions. This suggests that the “ghost” of Iran is most likely to haunt the market for long enough to generate occasional but noticeable shifts in prices.
Factor 3: OPEC policy
How much time will it take Iran to recover its pre-sanctions production level?
OPEC is the largest actor on the oil market and until recently had the opportunity to directly dictate the price. The U.S. shale revolution changed the situation dramatically. The emergence of such a strong opponent deprived the Arab sheiks of the reins of power. Given the ever-decreasing ...
... oversupply of oil should correct itself as low oil prices force investment in new drilling capabilities down, but this time the major oil producer OPEC has instead increased output by about 1.5mln bbl per day since February, an amount equal to year’s increase in global ... ... also stepped up its daily production to 10.713mln bbl setting a post-Soviet output record.
Once the energy sanctions against Iran are lifted the country’s goal will be to empty existing storage facilities to revitalize the cash-strapped economy....
