Saudi Arabia Is Playing Chicken With U.S. Shale
OPEC+ delays opening the taps until the post-Covid demand recovery is stronger, betting Permian Basin rivals won't be tempted to "drill, baby, drill."
Twilight in the shale patch?
Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg“Drill, baby, drill is gone forever.” That’s the view expressed by Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman after last week’s meeting of the alliance of oil producers known as OPEC+.
The prince, who enjoys surprising the oil market, was riding high. He had just encouraged and cajoled his colleagues into accepting, for another month, his careful approach to adding back the supply they took off the market last May. He urged caution from the get-go, offering the view that demand recovery will remain fragile until Covid vaccine campaigns are much further along.