It’s 1986 Again as Saudi King Removes Energy Chief: Oil Strategy - Bloomberg:
A Saudi ruler replaces his oil minister for failing to deliver high enough prices as demand growth weakens and non-OPEC supply soars. I thought I’d woken up in 1986.
My former boss, Sheikh Zaki Yamani, was removed from his role as energy minister by King Fahd that year, after failing to deliver the impossible combination of higher oil prices -- $18 a barrel was what the king wanted -- and higher production for the kingdom. Outgoing minister Khalid Al-Falih seems to have faced a similar challenge. Except now the kingdom needs an oil price closer to $85 to balance its budget and, as ever, that seems to take priority over long-term considerations of market share.
Sure, there are differences, but in essence two competent technocrats lost their jobs for failing to deliver the impossible.
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