Saudi Oil Attack’s Global Aftershocks: Theme of the Week
Here’s what led Bloomberg Opinion coverage this week.
Friday’s scene: a destroyed installation in Saudi Arabia's Khurais oil processing plant.
Photographer: Fayez Nureldine/AFP/Getty Images
Last week’s attack on two of Saudi Arabia’s most essential oil production facilities wasn’t just a blow to the world’s oil supply. It also brought into relief the shortcomings and contradictions of U.S. President Donald Trump’s foreign policy — as well as the troubling realities of his family’s financial conflicts of interest — in the Middle East. With recession signals seeming to grow louder, then softer, and markets easily rattled by random events like the repo market suddenly seizing, the strike made the oil sector even jumpier. Everybody’s blaming Iran, which has denied involvement even though the country seems to be the most likely author (or sponsor) of the strike. The threat of further attacks, as well as retaliation, has only heightened fears of a potentially devastating disruption in oil supply. How Saudi Arabia, the U.S. and its Middle East allies will respond still remains mostly unclear; Bloomberg Opinion writers will continue to follow the political and economic consequences.
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