Energy

The Jebel Ali find promises reduced import bills, improved security of supply, and more gas to boost the economy but will require some clever technical and commercial work to make full use of it.

Concerns over the coronavirus outbreak in China, the world’s largest oil importing country, pushed down oil prices, while the market failed to react to a near collapse in Libyan oil production, the continued absence of Iranian barrels, and other disruptions.

The Saudi mining industry starts 2020 with a slimmer regulatory agency, new management, and prospects that appear more favorable than many other Vision 2030 programs.

The end of the dispute will add little or no oil output immediately, but it does restore some spare capacity, and resolves one of the breaches in the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Oman has had notable success with its Khazzan gas field, but the sultanate will need to manage its domestic gas consumption and sign favorable long-term supply contracts to continue to benefit from LNG exports.

The OPEC+ group has agreed on deeper production cuts, but the next few weeks and months will show whether they have done enough to balance the market.

OPEC will need to adapt to new realities in an era of disruption and rapid transformation.

This paper examines potential incentives for a Saudi withdrawal or restructuring of OPEC, which comes amid challenges to the cartel and suggestions of changes to its long-standing practices.