Saudi Arabia’s latest move to cut crude oil production, despite U.S. please not to do so, should not have surprised Washington, and yet it did The immediate impact on crude oil prices of the cut was not as dramatic as some had feared. White House National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan has changed his tone vis-a-vis Saudi Arabia. Despite repeated pleas from the U.S. that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), under the de facto leadership of Saudi Arabia, should not cut its collective crude oil production at its meeting last week it did just that. The White House had made it clear that a cut in crude oil production and the corollary rise in oil prices would lead to three outcomes that it sees as exceptionally dangerous for the world right now. First, it would add further impetus to the energy price-led surge in global inflation that […]