Everyone knows the story. Saudi Arabia in mid-2014 decided not to cut supplies, causing a strong fall in prices. This step of Riyadh leads to the beginning of the oil war. Some by the spring of 2015, believed that the worst was over, but they were wrong. Another crash caused the beginning of 2016 the fall in the price of Brent crude oil to $ 25 per barrel.
So, what is the oil market after two years of oil wars. From the point of view of some experts, as a result, the winners were two countries: the United States and to a lesser extent Russia.
The Russian level of oil production continues rati, which only confirms the status of this country as an energy superpower. Russia is currently faced with serious financial problems, however, they are not comparable in scale to those experiencing Saudi Arabia. In addition, these problems have been partially addressed by the significant weakening of the Russian ruble.
American oil production has also proved much more resilient than many thought. Thanks to technological improvements, reduced costs and increased quality drilling, shale oil industry in the United States found its niche. Some of the leading oil producers in the United States plans to increase production in the coming years, even while maintaining current prices.
Unlike these two countries, Saudi Arabia could not be in the winners list, even though she provoked the outbreak of this war because it was faced with structural problems. The fact that the only product this country can produce, is oil. Social harmony in the Kingdom is provided by the government in the form of a generous social security system.
The current situation only exacerbates these fundamental flaws and weaknesses of the system. The amount of withdrawals from the international reserves of the country has already reached almost 200 billion dollars.
Conclusion you can make about the same as a year ago: all countries that were hit the hardest are members of OPEC. Perhaps the cartel it is time to rethink your strategy.
