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Fifty years of oil trading
The invisible hand of the market has seen increasing transparency but much more needs to be done to build a better understanding
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Capping state corporate income tax deductions would reduce energy supplies and raise prices
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Letter from the US: Houston has a problem with Trump’s energy policy
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Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman
Saudi Arabia Oil markets US Saudi Aramco Opec
Robin M Mills
Dubai
1 August 2022
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Reading too much into the Saudi capacity ceiling

MbS almost certainly did not mean what oil bulls have convinced themselves he did

A single comment by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) in an otherwise extensive speech at the US-Arab Summit in Jeddah was enough to electrify the oil market and its observers. After an increase to 13mn bl/d of oil capacity by 2027, “the Kingdom will not have any additional capacity to increase production”, bin Salman said. Bloomberg, The Washington Post and others jumped on this as proof that Opec’s largest producer will quite soon hit its absolute ceiling. Analysts suggested that this would spell trouble for the global economy. Or that, because capex for investment will clearly not be the constraint, the limit must be rooted in geology. This is a substantial over-extrap

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Fifty years of oil trading
14 May 2025
The invisible hand of the market has seen increasing transparency but much more needs to be done to build a better understanding
OPEC+ keeps more barrels off market in April
13 May 2025
A fall in Venezuelan output drives overall production lower, as Saudi Arabia starts to slowly bring more crude to the market
Australia’s post-election energy priorities
12 May 2025
With the gas industry’s staunchest advocates and opponents taking brutal blows, the sector looks like treading a path of insipid indifference
Petroleum Economist: May 2025
9 May 2025
The May 2025 issue of Petroleum Economist is out now!

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