In the mid-2000s, Saudi Arabia thwarted efforts of the UAE to build a causeway from its territory to Qatar. Clearly, the UAE feels ready to compete for market share at lower oil prices if need be, rather than restrain production to prop up prices. The revised production quota for the UAE shifted the Emirati calculation in favor of continuing to adhere to the OPEC strategy — for the time being. “We are still going to be the last man standing, and every molecule of hydrocarbon will come out," Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the Saudi energy minister, told Bloomberg News this week. But the day OPEC fractures will come, although a spike in oil prices is likely to come before it does.

Source: Mint July 25, 2021 06:11 UTC