Oil traders appear to be hedging themselves against a possible deal between the West and Iran on the nuclear question but doing so misses the increasingly complex forces at play today in oil geopolitics. A Saudi analyst with close ties to the Saudi government issued a clear and effective description of the new Saudi government’s foreign policy doctrine in today’s Washington Post, and it clearly indicates a warning about a wider Sunni-Iranian war across the Middle East. If Tehran and Moscow were counting on the kingdom to be disorganized in the face of a succession transition, this new op ed should shed any doubts about the new government’s seriousness of purpose. The Saudi royal family rallied around a clean and clear succession announcement last January and it looks likely the same unified internal coalition is ready and willing to implement a coordinated oil and military strategy against Iran. The […]