The Real Reason Saudi Arabia Killed Doha

Oilprice.com ^ | 25-04-2016 | Captain Hook

[bananaman22]

Saudi Arabia single-handedly scuttled the Doha meeting, knowing all along that Iran would not participate, with a valid reason. The Russians and others agreed to proceed without Iran, planning to include them at a later date. So if everything was known beforehand, why did the Saudi’s pour cold water on the aspirations of the remaining members, risking its alienation from Russia and the OPEC community?

Was it simply Saudi enmity toward Iran? Not exactly. Upon closer scrutiny, we can find the Saudi masterstroke behind Doha.

It is well known that Saudi Arabia is heavily dependent on oil revenues, and that those revenues are on the brink of collapse. They have sought financial aid from various international agencies to support their dwindling economy. But the trick here is to determine exactly how desperate the Saudis are. Certainly not as desperate as other countries.

[Seruzawa]

It is well known that Saudi Arabia is a shyt hole that is entirely heavily dependent on oil revenues.

There. Fixed it.

[RayChuang88]

The thing that is hurting Saudi Arabia is that with the price of natural gas taking a massive nose dive (and refineries all over the world are preparing to refine gasoline, diesel fuel, and lubricants from natural gas on a truly massive scale), the Saudis can't rely on crude oil exports anymore. However, the Saudis still have massive natural gas reserves, but it will take time for Saudi Aramco to build up the gas production and export infrastructure (something that Qatar and Iran have heavily invested in).

In fact, if I were Iran, Pakistan and India, I'd hold a summit and produce a gigantic deal to export natural gas from Iran to Pakistan and India through land pipelines. Not only would Pakistan and India now get a relatively clean energy source, but it would stick it to the House of Saud (which in turn could put the political screw on ISIS).

[SunkenCiv]

Gosh, it's almost as if the ongoing shift to methane power plants, and the Demagogic Party politicians attacking US coal, is having some kind of impact on the OPEC debacle.

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