What happens next will determine whether the breakdown of talks -- which sent Brent crude climbing toward $80 a barrel -- could escalate into a conflict as bitter and destructive as last year’s price war.
At stake is the stability of the global economic recovery amid growing inflationary pressures, and the ability of the producers’ alliance to retain its hard-won control over the oil market.
From international oil majors to Middle Eastern petrostates, the market will be watching keenly in the coming days as Riyadh and Abu Dhabi publish prices and negotiate volumes for their August crude supplies. The fear that events could spiral further out of control was evident.
“We do not want a price war,” said Iraq’s Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar. “And we do not want oil prices to rise to more than the current levels.”
No comments:
Post a Comment