Saudi think tank studying possible breakup of OPEC

Baku. 9 November. REPORT.AZ/ Saudi Arabia’s top government-funded think tank is studying the possible effects on oil markets of a breakup of OPEC, Report informs citing The Wall Street Journal.

The effort coincides with new pressures on the Saudi government, including from the U.S., where President Trump has accused the cartel of pushing up oil prices, and from investors who distanced themselves from the kingdom after the brutal killing of a U.S.-based Saudi journalist.

Depending on the findings, the study could offer a defense of the cartel and the Saudi role in it.

The study is intended to determine how the global oil market, and Saudi finances, would look “if coordination between oil producing countries disappear,” according to the overview.

The research project doesn’t reflect an active debate inside the government over whether to leave the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in the near term, according to people familiar with the matter.