It would be ridiculous to claim that Boris Johnson’s visit to Saudi Arabia is not morally problematic. He is going to a country which held a mass execution for 81 people this weekend – a record number – and to visit a man who US intelligence blames for the brutal murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Yet, if the West wishes to reduce Vladimir Putin’s leverage – and stabilise the oil market – then it needs Saudi Arabia to pump more; no country has more spare capacity than Saudi Arabia, which could produce another 1.5 to 2 million barrels a day if it wanted to.
The best solution is – obviously – for the West to develop its own energy resources
China’s struggles with Covid, and the expectation that further lockdowns there are nigh-on-inevitable, has led to the oil market coming off its recent high: the price of a barrel of oil is now back below $100 a barrel.
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