... Ansar Allah opponents (Houthis) have taken the opportunity to put additional pressure on their main adversary, Saudi Arabia. On September 14, with the help of drones and missiles, they delivered a strike against two large oil processing facilities in Saudi Arabia, which forced Riyadh to
cut
oil production by more than half – 5.7 million barrels per day fewer than the usual 9.8 million barrels.
Despite the wave of accusations against Iran following the strikes, there is reason to believe that the Houthis are capable of organizing such an attack all on their own since they had previously shown cruise missiles with the necessary range to the public. However, in all fairness, we should ...
... slowly stabilising. A peace process in Syria is gaining momentum, and ISIS’ defeat is getting closer. However, Middle Eastern problems remain massive. Among them we have selected three main issues, which are also interconnected: the hostility between Saudi Arabia and Iran, Sunni and Shia; the stabilisation of oil prices, which are now rising but remain — as always — difficult to predict; the presence of terrorism, which, despite ISIS’ decline, is still a problem well beyond the region.
Starting with the geopolitics, there clearly are two main contenders....
... Iranian one. Plus, Russians and Saudis have a lot to discuss and cooperate such as Oil and Gas markets, they have to deal openly at some point. It is in none favour to... ... guaranteer. The Saudis also believe that Russia in Syria will definitely minimise the Iranian influence over there. In short, they prefer to negotiate with far, friendly... ... power rather than a regional, close and hostile power. In addition to that, Russia and Saudi Arabia have proved -to each others- during the past three years they are capable...
... 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 the Doha talks
in April 2016. A similar result likely awaits the OPEC meeting on 30 November, at which the member nations ...
Recent reports released by analysts suggest that the situation in the oil market, already highly volatile, could get much worse in the near future. Morgan ... ... 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... ... National budgets of OPEC members are now critically dependent on the price of oil. Saudi Arabia, for example, had to issue first sovereign bond since 2007 to cover the...
...
In the case of Yemen, a minor oil producer strategically situated in a region where more than half of world oil reserves are located, geopolitics becomes a long-term market factor. Price hikes there have more to do with a possible standoff between Saudi Arabia and Iran, rather than Yemen itself.
Disruption in oil transit
REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah/Pixstream
Leonid Issaev:
Yemen: Following in Afghanistan’s Footsteps?
Yemen controls part of the strait of Bab el-Mandeb, a bottleneck that separates the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea. In 2013,
3.8 million barrels ...
