It’s been nearly three years since the world’s top oil exporter and OPEC’s de facto leader Saudi Arabia forged an alliance with Russia to start managing oil supply with the hope of rebalancing the market and ensuring, in their words, market stability, in other words—higher oil prices. While they have managed to put a floor under oil prices, the allies in the OPEC+ deal have failed to materially move prices higher. With fears of demand faltering, the leaders of the pact—Saudi Arabia and Russia—face a tough test ahead. Should they deepen the cuts and lose additional market share, (mostly) to U.S. oil? Or should they just stay put and wait for the storm to pass, jawboning the market about ‘stability’ in the meantime? On top of these questions, the leaders of the OPEC+ coalition are now facing another force on the oil market—increased unpredictability in geopolitics, as the attacks […]