The oil barons' enormous problem: how to sustain their power in the age of electricity

the International Energy Agency (IEA), which is under the OECD. Nor is it the one that most independent analysts can see. The one leading the cartel, led by Russia and Saudi Arabia, in its actions: it has been increasing supply in an increasingly saturated market for months, which has caused a drop in prices that are already much closer to what the major importers—South Korea, Japan, India, China, and Europe—want than to what the group of sellers, led by OPEC+, would like. A way of acknowledging the obvious: for those fortunate enough to have plenty of crude oil under their feet, the best decision is to sell as much volume as possible today. Before it's too late, thanks to electrification. Since last spring, the oil cartel has increased its supply at its meetings. After a recent period characterized by cuts, particularly severe between 2016 and 2019 and in 2023, there has been a radical change in strategy. Despite demand slowing, the oil company began injecting 137,000 new barrels daily into the market in April. With this series of increases in pumping speed, Riyadh, Moscow, Dubai, and other cities around the world are accelerating their pace. From now on, they are injecting into the global oil market almost all the barrels they had planned to return—much more slowly—during the following year. Therefore, they are definitively abandoning the endless cycle of cuts in which they had been involved for years.