US President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in Riyadh
OPEC++, the sequel, has arrived
It is time to acknowledge that the US-Saudi Arabia nexus is driving a fundamental shift in OPEC strategy
There are many layers to the current oil alliance. This complexity may be unwieldly, but the greater flexibility and market share is ultimately a strength, with producers in different subsets of OPEC, OPEC+ and the ‘voluntary’ group of eight. On top of this there is the ultimate partnership driving the current strategy: Saudi Arabia and the US. After several years of deeper and deeper production cuts, the oil pact has pivoted. The eight OPEC+ producers—Algeria, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Oman, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the UAE—began unwinding some of their additional output cuts earlier this year, returning some of the 2.2m b/d layer of supply to the market. This inner circle started to increa
Also in this section
24 December 2025
As activity in the US Gulf has stagnated at a lower level, the government is taking steps to encourage fresh exploration and bolster field development work
23 December 2025
The new government has brought stability and security to the country, with the door now open to international investment
23 December 2025
A third wave of LNG supply is coming, and with it a likely oversupply of the fuel by 2028
22 December 2025
Weakening climate resolve in the developed world and rapidly growing demand in developing countries means peak oil is still a long way away
