David Fickling, Columnist

The Oil Price War Is Turning Into a Debt War

Saudi Arabia's bloated budget means it's not really a low-cost producer. That's why any race to the bottom will be difficult to win.

March 9, 2020 at 3:01 AM UTC

By David Fickling

David Fickling is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering climate change and energy. Previously, he worked for Bloomberg News, the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times.

We’ve played this game before.
Photographer: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP

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In a war of attrition, the winner isn’t the force with overwhelming power, but the one with the greatest capacity to sustain damage.

The current price war in the oil market is little different. Brent crude fell the most since the 1991 Gulf War Monday, dropping 31% in a matter of seconds, after Friday’s OPEC+ meeting broke up in disarray and Saudi Arabia slashed its crude prices and promised a surge in output.