Playing for Higher Stakes: Saudi Arabia Gambles on Oil War with Russia

Playing for Higher Stakes: Saudi Arabia Gambles on Oil War with Russia

Saudi Arabia’s oil spat with Russia throws a spanner into the works of the Kingdom’s long-standing effort to hedge its bets, a strategy that has taken on added significance as the Gulf comes to grips with the likelihood that the region’s security architecture will fundamentally change. Saudi Arabia, despite a primary focus on close ties…

Saudi-Initiated All-Out Oil War Could Lead to Collapse of Kingdom Itself

Saudi-Initiated All-Out Oil War Could Lead to Collapse of Kingdom Itself

Saudi Arabia launched an all-out oil war offering unprecedented discounts and flooding the market in an attempt to capture a larger share and defeat other oil producers. This “scorched earth” approach caused the biggest oil price fall since the war in the Persian Gulf in 1991. It all began on March 8 when Riyadh cut…

Russia’s Rejection of OPEC+ was the Result of Cold Geostrategic Calculations

Russia’s Rejection of OPEC+ was the Result of Cold Geostrategic Calculations

Russia rejected its OPEC+ partners’ request late last week to further curtail its oil production next month because it understood that doing so would make its American shale rivals more competitive, which would in turn empower the US to continue weaponizing energy for geostrategic ends, thus eventually leading to a dangerous scenario that Moscow might…