Saudi’s crown prince and Putin are teaming up to keep oil prices high in a geopolitical gambit likely to annoy the US

Saudi’s crown prince and Putin are teaming up to keep oil prices high in a geopolitical gambit likely to annoy the US

Saudi Arabia and Russia are working to keep oil prices high in a move that will likely frustrate the US. On Sunday, the kingdom's energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman al-Saud, said Saudi oil output would be reduced from 10 million barrels to nine million starting in July, "This is a Saudi lollipop," Prince Abdulaziz said. "We wanted to ice the cake. We always want to add suspense. We don't want people to try to predict what we do... This market needs stabilization." His remarks came after a meeting in Vienna, Austria, of Opec+ members, a group of the world's largest oil producing nations. Saudi Arabia is the world's biggest oil producer and most influential member of the group, so has significant power over global oil markets. Saudi Arabia's de-facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is seeking to keep oil prices high to fund his ambitions plans to diversify Saudi Arabia's economy, including the megacity project. He is steering a more independent , even at the risk of angering Saudi Arabia's traditional allies the US. In recent weeks, oil prices have been falling globally, but the move by the Saudis has increased In the wake of the meeting, Russian