Saudi Arabia showed its determination to protect the oil recovery, warning short sellers not to challenge its resolve and delivering a rare public rebuke to a close ally that had been over-producing.
After a meeting with fellow OPEC+ ministers on Thursday, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman dropped clear hints that there could be a change of direction in production policy before the group’s next ministerial meeting in December.
As the rebound in oil prices falters, the prince invoked his hero, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, with an attempt to bend global markets to his will.
“We will never leave this market unattended,” he said. “I want the guys in the trading floors to be as jumpy as possible. I’m going to make sure whoever gambles on this market will be ouching like hell.”