The new output target for Saudi Arabia - 9.744 million barrels a day - means that it is once again bearing the lion’s share of the burden. From an almost identical starting point, Russia is cutting about a third of that amount. But this time, while the kingdom is dangling the carrot of deeper, unilateral output cuts, it is also brandishing a big stick.
LIKE so many in the past, the latest deal by the world’s major oil producing countries to reduce supply and boost prices relies on persuading the cheats to adhere to the output cuts they’ve agreed to.
I don’t hold out much hope that they will change their behavior and that will leave Saudi Arabia with a choice between two bad options - continue to bear a disproportionate share of the burden, or open the taps to teach them a lesson.
Saudi Arabia’s new oil minister Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman brought a quasi-religious language to his attempt to bolster a new output deal ahead of Friday’s OPEC+ gathering in Vienna.
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