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Opec's largest producer, Saudi Arabia, has opened the door to an output cut in the coming months, as oil prices fell again below $70 a barrel last week. On Monday, the kingdom's energy minister, Khalid Al-Falih, said supply curbs of 1m barrels a day could be necessary, as concerns about an oversupplied market mount.
The day before, Mr Falih had said that state energy giant Saudi Aramco would export 500,000 fewer barrels a day in December compared with November. This is a big shift from earlier in the summer, when US President Donald Trump called on Opec to help compensate for a loss in Iranian barrels after the reimposition of US sanctions against Tehran. Even as the kingdom pledged to relax supply curbs and increase output, the Trump administration granted waivers to big consumers of Iranian oil, such as India and China, allowing more crude than expected into global markets.
But the Saudi position could put the kingdom at odds with Russia, its main partner outside of the cartel. Moscow believes that any extra supply could be short term, and oil companies in the country are primed to boost output by 300,000 barrels a day.
As attention turns to the next meeting of ministers in December, there is a question of how Saudi persuades Russia to enter into another deal to keep their landmark oil alliance alive.
