Saudi Arabia and Russia pull OPEC+ in different directions

The two oil heavyweights’ diverging fiscal considerations are straining unity within the group

Although the fiscal breakeven oil price needed to balance budgets in OPEC+ members is set to fall as output rises, the divergence in economic considerations among Saudi Arabia, Russia and quota-buster Kazakhstan is emblematic of growing dissent within the group. Russia was one of a few countries among the eight OPEC+ members that called for holding the unwinding of voluntary oil curbs at the latest meeting on 31 May that was convened to decide production quotas for July, according to several media outlets. Before the 31 May meeting, Russia had signed on to Saudi Arabia’s sudden U-turn on the policy of propping up prices through quota curbs to an aggressive speeding up of unwinding cuts to re