End of the war for Opec
In the end, the fiscal pressures and income loss were too great for Opec’s members to bear—and the rewards of the market-share strategy too meagre
In January 2015, Oman's urbane oil minister could barely hide his contempt. Just two months earlier, at Opec's fateful November 2014 meeting, the group-of which Oman is not a member-had stared at a weakening oil market and decided to do nothing. In the memorable words of one Saudi oil adviser, the kingdom had decided to "take its hand off the tiller". But Mohammed al-Rumhy was having none of it. "I really fail to understand how market share became more important than revenue," he said from the podium of a Petroleum Economist conference in Kuwait City. "We have created volatility-and volatility is one of those words that's bad for business." It was "politics that I don't understand". Lots of
Also in this section
16 May 2024
Flat oil growth in 2024 highlights mounting industry problems
15 May 2024
Five years ago, Uzbekistan turned to a private company called Saneg to reverse the fortunes of its oil industry. Results so far are encouraging, and according to CEO Tulkin Yusupov, further progress is on the way
14 May 2024
But there is still plenty of appetite for the country’s LNG in the Asia-Pacific region
14 May 2024
The former CEO of Pioneer, Scott Sheffield, has opened a can of worms through his association with OPEC+ and its market management strategy