Behind the scenes, Saudi officials are eyeing $100 per barrel as a goal, which would help plug a chronic fiscal deficit, but more importantly, it would inflate the value of Saudi Aramco ahead of the company’s IPO next year. Up until only recently, it seemed that triple-digit oil prices would never return. Soaring U.S. shale production promised to keep oil prices low forever, and for every oil analyst that predicted a rebound in prices, there was another that forecasted a downturn. But the market is dramatically tighter than even just a few months ago. OPEC is over-complying with the production cuts, demand is growing at a rapid clip and the inventory surplus is virtually gone. Against the backdrop of a much tighter oil market, an unexpected supply outage could push things over the edge. President Trump might be the one to do it. Within the next three weeks, the […]