Mideast Gulf oil exporters may engage in price war
The spectre of Saudi Arabia’s 2020 market share strategy haunts a suffering OPEC+ as Trump upends the energy world
Mideast Gulf producers in OPEC+ may eventually get into an oil price war with their American rivals and perhaps non-compliant members to claw back market share lost from extended and deep quota cuts while, at the same time, contemplating investments in the US energy sector to get in President Donald Trump’s good books. Saudi Arabia and seven members of OPEC+ seem to have acquiesced to Trump’s demands to lower oil prices by agreeing to proceed with the gradual unwinding of 2.2m b/d of voluntary cuts starting in April, after delaying the plan three times before he came to power. “At some point, OPEC is going to have to consider going into a price war mode,” said Jim Krane, energy research fell
Also in this section
16 January 2026
The country’s global energy importance and domestic political fate are interlocked, highlighting its outsized oil and gas powers, and the heightened fallout risk
16 January 2026
The global maritime oil transport sector enters 2026 facing a rare convergence of crude oversupply, record newbuild deliveries and the potential easing of several geopolitical disruptions that have shaped trade flows since 2022
15 January 2026
Rebuilding industry, energy dominance and lower energy costs are key goals that remain at odds in 2026
14 January 2026
Chavez’s socialist reforms boosted state control but pushed knowledge and capital out of the sector, opening the way for the US shale revolution






