Sep 25, 2018...Trump says OPEC is 'ripping off the rest of the world'
The cracks in OPEC are forming.
“The cracks in OPEC are forming.”
This may have more to do with the political friction between Saudi Arabia (and the UAE) and Qatar, over Qatar’s support of the Muslim Brotherhood and jihadi groups.
The Saudis share Qatar’s only land border. In this disagreement (part of President Trump’s anti-terrorism efforts)they have gone far beyond a simple boycott - they have contracted to have a canal dug, to cut Qatar off from the mainland (except for their official border crossing). They are really trying to force Qatar to comply with Saudi foreign policy. The Qataris have turned toward Turkey and Iran for support.
It is a political, religious and personal conflict; beyond the oil business.
As the article points out, Qatar is not a big oil producer anyway. Their main business is natural gas, and most of that is produced offshore, in waters they share with Iranian producers. So this might have something to do with skirting the huge sanctions that just hit Iran, which they could not get away with within OPEC.
Sep 25, 2018...Trump says OPEC is 'ripping off the rest of the world'