Gulf trades trigger texas tremors

Riyadh’s fractional rollback of output cuts is reminiscent of 2014, when the kingdom’s focus on maintaining market share and rattling US shale production shaved 50 percent off the prices.

Historically, embargoes and high prices have introduced new actors on the oil stage. Though global resources continue to be substantially concentrated in the Persian Gulf, the present move

is in sync with rising US production and an imminent supply upswing from Guyana and Brazil. The Saudi capacity-in-abeyance could fill in, should there be ‘disruption’ in Iran’s 1.6 mbpd

exports. As the US administration seeks lower prices and pursues discreet diplomacy with Tehran, the move dovetails with Riyadh’s deepening engagement with Washington. Saudi Arabia has

pledged $600-billion investments in the US. Expansion and integration of petrochemical production at the Aramco-owned Motiva refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, the largest in North America, is

among the 34-odd agreements between Aramco and the US energy sector. Trump’s solicitation of trillion-dollar Saudi investments indicates the path the kingdom is expected to follow, as it

seeks favourable deals with White House.            Earlier, Riyadh hosted a Ukraine-US dialogue to broker peace in the Russian conflict. Trump’s historic meeting with the interim Syrian

president and his intentions to relieve Damascus of sanctions, facilitated by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, emphasises the kingdom’s role as a regional diplomatic player and a

generational shift in traditional ties. Nearby, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and the US plan to jointly invest $440 billion by 2035. Mudabala Energy, a subsidiary of UAE’s sovereign

fund Mudabala Investment, has acquired equity in Texas-based Kimmeridge SoTex, marking its gateway to liquefied gas and other energy assets in the US. The Emirates have proposed

$1.4-trillion investments in the US over a decade. Qatar mediated the 2023 prisoner exchange between US and Iran, which led to the unfreezing of $6 billion of Tehran’s oil money, and brought

Doha and Washington closer. Besides the offshore McDermott-Qatar Energy tie-ups, Trump’s tour galvanised a broader partnership as Doha committed $1.2 trillion in trade.