Economics
Qatar's OPEC Exit Shows Growing Sway of Moscow-Riyadh Oil Axis
- Smaller producers feel marginalized by Saudi Arabia and Russia
- Saudi foreign policy has put extreme pressure on oil cartel
This article is for subscribers only.
When Qatar shocked the oil world on Monday by announcing plans to quit the OPEC cartel after 57 years, its energy minister said the decision was made for "technical" reasons.
That story didn’t last long. A few hours later, a leading member of the country’s ruling family used Twitter to blast the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, a group where Qatar was once a diplomatic force despite being a relative minnow in oil production terms, accounting for less than 2 percent of total output.