Question

In: Economics

An intensifying oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia has created “very painful” market conditions...


An intensifying oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia has created “very painful” market conditions for the world’s largest crude oil producers. International benchmark Brent crude traded at $32.97 Thursday, down almost 8%, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) stood at $30.40, around 7.8% lower. Oil prices have almost halved since the start of the year.
Last week, Saudi Arabia failed to secure Moscow’s support for deeper output cuts at a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC plus. OPEC had proposed to deepen cuts by 1.5 million barrels per day and Russia was asked to cut an extra 300,000 bpd.
“There was no point in cutting until after everyone understood how sharply demand could fall. We cannot fight a falling demand situation when there is no clarity about where the bottom (of demand) is,” Pavel Sorokin, the Russia’s deputy energy minister, said.
“It is very easy to get caught in a circle when, by cutting once, you get into an even worse situation: oil prices would shortly bounce back before falling again as demand continued to fall.”
Cooperation between two (Saudi Arabia and Russia) of the world’s three largest oil producers — the third is the United States — appears to be at an end.
2How a Saudi-Russian Standoff Sent Oil Markets Into a Frenzy. 9th March 2020. New York Times
Russia to OPEC - deeper oil cuts won't work. 12th March 2020. Reuter
The losers — and even bigger losers — of an oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia. 12th March 2020. CNBC
a) With aid of diagram, explain how the fall in crude oil demand affect the output of OPEC plus members.
b) Discuss why Russia refuse to follow Saudi Arabia’s proposal to cut crude oil production with aid of diagram.

Solutions

Expert Solution

a) The world has witnessed some volatile developments in the crude oil market as the prices plummeted as Saudi Arabia decreased its reference rate for selling. This move came after its cooperation with Russia to stave off any fall in the crude prices by balancing the production ended abruptly as Russia refused to carry out any cuts.
Saudi Arabia and Russia are one of the two biggest oil producers in the world and any end of cooperation ensured the price war for the market share. As the supply was not reduced and price has fallen which resulted in revenue loss for the oil exporting countries in the event of falling demand.


2) Russia and Saudi Arabia has been cooperating with each other since last three years so avoid any steep change in the oil prices considering its importance to the world economy as well as the dependency of the OPEC countries on the commodity. However, Russia refused to carry out any cuts its oil production citing that is demand is already falling and any cut will increase the price but might reduce the demand further and that will create a vicious cycle.
Russia stressed that falling demand will be exacerbated by supply cuts and resultant increase in price won't be able to deliver any gain in the face of further leftward shift of demand.


Related Solutions

Saudi Arabia steps up oil price war with big production increase Saudi Arabia has intensified the...
Saudi Arabia steps up oil price war with big production increase Saudi Arabia has intensified the oil price war by ordering its state-owned producer, Saudi Aramco, to raise the maximum production rate to record highs of 13m barrels a day. The world’s most profitable company told the Saudi stock exchange on Wednesday that it would increase how much oil it can comfortably pump per day by 1m barrels to its highest rate ever. The state order to raise Aramco’s “maximum...
The following information is extracted from several articles2 about oil market. An intensifying oil price war...
The following information is extracted from several articles2 about oil market. An intensifying oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia has created “very painful” market conditions for the world’s largest crude oil producers. International benchmark Brent crude traded at $32.97 Thursday, down almost 8%, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) stood at $30.40, around 7.8% lower. Oil prices have almost halved since the start of the year. Last week, Saudi Arabia failed to secure Moscow’s support for deeper output...
in economic terms, how would you describe Saudi Arabia and Russia's oil price war?
in economic terms, how would you describe Saudi Arabia and Russia's oil price war?
There are two oil producers, Saudi Arabia and Iran. The market price will be $60/barrel if...
There are two oil producers, Saudi Arabia and Iran. The market price will be $60/barrel if the total volume of sales is 9 million barrels daily, $50 if the total volume of sales is 11 million barrels daily, and $35 if the total volume of sales is 13 million barrels daily. Saudi Arabia has two strategies; either produce 8 million barrels daily or 6 million. Iran has two strategies; either produce 3 million barrels daily or 5 million. Assume for...
Discuss the impact on the oil market if Saudi Arabia dramatically increase the quantity of oil...
Discuss the impact on the oil market if Saudi Arabia dramatically increase the quantity of oil it produces and sells each year. Specifically, address how this will effect market quantity, market price, and the amount of profit Saudi Arabia and other oil producers make selling oil. Assume that oil production is an oligopoly market where there are only a few firms and they all sell the same product (commodity).
what is the current relationship between Saudi Arabia and Russia. In economic terms, describe what is...
what is the current relationship between Saudi Arabia and Russia. In economic terms, describe what is occurring. (200 words)
Saudi Arabia has pegged its currency to the US dollar. It uses oil revenue to spend...
Saudi Arabia has pegged its currency to the US dollar. It uses oil revenue to spend on imports. How does the drop in oil prices affect the SAR/USD exchange rate? (SAR= Saudi Riyal)
"There is a strong historical correlation between the performance of the Saudi stock market, oil prices...
"There is a strong historical correlation between the performance of the Saudi stock market, oil prices and global financial markets." 1- Discuss in detail how accurate this link is? 2- What is your personal assessment of the financial market situation in the Kingdom?
The market price of Fintech stock has been very volatile and you think this volatility will...
The market price of Fintech stock has been very volatile and you think this volatility will continue for a few weeks. Thus, you decide to purchase a 1-month call option contract with a strike price of $35 and an option price of $1.82. You also purchase a 1-month put option on the stock with a strike price of $35 and an option price of $.91. What will be your total profit or loss on all the transactions related to these...
Consider two oil refineries that both produce fuel, which has a market price of $3 per gallon.
Exercise 2: ExternalityConsider two oil refineries that both produce fuel, which has a market price of $3 per gallon. Assume that each refinery uses $1 in raw inputs (crude oil, electricity, labor) to produce 1 gallon of fuel. In addition, each plant produces smog, which creates $0.02 of environmental damage per cubic foot. The amount of smog per gallon of fuel produced differs at the two plants:s1= 2y21 and s2=(1/4)y22where y1 and y2 denote the number of gallons of fuel...
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT