The fundamentals of the oil market have changed significantly over the decades since the inception of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Although the cartel’s oil production has increased over the past couple of years, sharper increases in production by non-OPEC members have weakened the organization’s position. Fracking technology in the U.S. and the shale revolution that it drove has diminished the relative strength of OPEC. It is this decline that has created the environment for cooperation between Russia and Saudi Arabia. After two years of low oil prices that overstretched national budgets and spurred unrest in some countries, Riyadh and Moscow came to an understanding in 2016 to reduce production and increase prices. The second OPEC+ agreement of June 2018 could point to the beginning of a more permanent relationship between the energy superpowers – a relationship that is a significant threat to Iran. On February 18, President […]