The reason behind the mistaken Saudi oil comment headlines (TL;DR - the Saudis are angry)

ICYMI - the original headlines:

• Saudi Arabia energy minister says they may need to curb output

Adam took a deeper dive into the comments and concluded the headlines crossing the wries were misconstrued:

• The Saudi comments on cutting production don't quite match the headlines

• There's a mention of cutting production (and it's the only one in the entire interview) but it's hardly a warning and I don't think it's consistent with the headline.
• When I look at the big picture on OPEC I wonder: What if they're actually being honest? They're repeatedly warning about a lack of investment and spare capacity. They continually note that more investment is needed to fuel the world. No one is listening.

I'm gonna add in my two cents. Saudi Arabia are ****ed off with falling oil prices. Partially as these will, at the margin, dissuade investment. But I am not discounting the greed factor - Saudi Arabia and their biggest partner, Russia, want higher oil prices for revenue purposes. This is a powerful motivation.

Oil price update:

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