Oil market weighs U.S.-Saudi rift
- Ben Geman, author of Axios Generate
Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naeimi. Photo: Yasser Al-Zayyat/AFP/Getty Images
Crude oil prices are up Monday after the weekend's escalating rhetoric between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia over the disappearance — and apparent killing — of Jamal Khashoggi.
Between the lines: Traders don't appear convinced at this point that the rupture will cause major upheaval in oil flows. Prices for the benchmark Brent crude are higher but they're not soaring.
- At the time of publishing, prices were up 44 cents for WTI and 81 cents for Brent.
Why it matters: Saudi Arabia is the world's largest crude oil exporter and, along with the U.S. and Russia, one of the world's biggest producers. Any Saudi effort to use oil as a geopolitical weapon would rattle global oil markets and put sharp upward pressure on prices that are already near four-year-highs.
Driving the news: Over the weekend President Trump said there would be "severe punishment" if the Saudis killed Khashoggi.
- In response, the Saudi's released a statement warning, "if it receives any action, it will respond with greater action, and that the Kingdom's economy has an influential and vital role in the global economy."
- And on Sunday, the general manager of Saudi-owned Al Arabiya News Channel, Turki Aldakhil, published a column warning that U.S. sanctions could send oil prices to $100 per barrel, $200 or even higher.
The latest: In remarks in India this morning, Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih emphasized the kingdom's role as a reliable global supplier.
- However, he also said that absent the Saudis' development and deployment of their spare production capacity, prices would be in the triple digits.
- “We expect and demand that Saudi Arabia’s efforts be appreciated and acknowledged,” al-Falih said at an livestreamed energy conference there.
Go deeper: