OPEC’s
(Oil and Petroleum Exporting Countries) leading member Saudi Arabia is
currently refusing to lower oil prices in the market. Saudi Prince Turki
al-Faisal al-Saud refuses
to lower his nation’s oil prices for two reasons. The first being he refuses to
allow his nation to repeat mistakes from the past. The Saudi Prince is
referring to, a previous instance in which Saudi Arabia had cut oil prices and
allowed its competitors to make generous profits, from their oil. Therefore
Saudi Arabia will only cut the price of its oil if its competitors agree to do
the same. Saudi Arabia’s main competitors are Iran, Russia and the U.S. and
will not cut prices unless these states do as well. Both Saudi Arabia and Iran
cannot afford to take price cuts in the oil market. For Saudi Arabia to ask
these nations to cut the price of their oil would be asking the country to
intentionally damage its economy.
Russia is currently taking a massive loss in the oil
industry and other markets, due to the sanctions placed on the state by the
international community. Iran simply cannot afford to lower oil prices without
taking a major economic hit. Speculation seems to indicate Saudi Arabia’s hard
stance on cutting its oil prices may be to intentionally damage the economy of
Iran and Russia. Saudi Arabia would seek to hurt the Iranian and Russian
economies for their support of the al-Assad regime in Syria. Without the
support of Iran and Russia, Syria’s capitol Damascus would not stand on its own
for too long. The fall of Damascus and lack of Iranian aid in Syria would
allow, for Saudi Arabia to claim its status of hegemon in the Middle East
against its rival.
For some reason the post was highlighted in white, in certain sections. The only for me to resolve this issue was to highlight the post in black. Sorry, for any inconvenience.
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