Saudi Arabia’s pyrrhic oil war triumph

The kingdom may consider it has prevailed over Russia and US shale producers in the short-term, but its longer-term prospects are clouded in uncertainty

Riyadh has scored some impressive victories in the month-long oil price war it and Russia unleashed, and which has ended in a three-way truce of sorts, crucially also involving the US. But analysts caution that any supply-side calm necessitated by the unprecedented global health and economic emergency—and oil demand destruction—posed by the Covid-19 pandemic may be fragile. It may be too early for Saudi Arabia to celebrate: continuing elbowing for market share, especially in Asia, is just one sign of ongoing challenges. Outwardly, at least, Saudi Arabia appears triumphant. There are few more public ways to project an image than to buy a European football club, in its case a bid for England’s