Energy Fuse quotes Global Energy Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Jean-François Seznec on Saudi Arabia’s influence over OPEC:
“If non-OPEC production starts declining, then prices go back up, and the Saudis will have the capacity to influence the market,” Jean-Francois Seznec, a leading Middle East scholar and a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center, told The Fuse.
[…]
“The organization is under the thumb of the Saudis,” said Seznec. “They have a lot of power. Nothing happens unless the Saudis want it to happen.”
Seznec notes that the Saudis’ goal now is not to build market share, but rather to make the price rebound back to $80 per barrel, whether through coordinated cuts with Russia or curtailed growth in non-OPEC supply.
“What’s the point of having large market share if you’re producing at a low price?” said Seznec.