LETTER: Are Saudis playing last man standing?
The kingdom appears to be poised to use its advantages to renew its domination of the oil industry
It appears that Saudi Arabia’s reading of geoeconomic opportunity sees the window closing for crude oil/fossil fuels. It is probably no coincidence that they’ve launched the gambit of flooding the market, thus exercising the power inherent in having the largest reserves plus low production costs, and amplifying this power — before dependence on fossil fuels really declines — at a time that a pandemic provides distraction and cover.
If Saudi Arabia is committed to milking its resource advantage by sticking with such a gambit (at least until a critical mass of competitors go down), a simultaneous collapse of demand will reduce the risk of targeted retaliation or co-ordinated multilateral response...
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