Ask two Opec oil ministers about the US shale oil revolution and you are likely to get opposing answers.
In a speech last month, Ali Naimi, Saudi oil minister and de facto leader of the producers’ cartel, went out of his way to welcome increased US oil production. But barely a fortnight later, Diezani Alison-Madueke, his Nigerian counterpart, said the shale oil revolution was “one of the most serious threats” for the group.
This week as Opec, which produces roughly 40 per cent of oil, gathers for its twice-yearly meeting in Vienna, to discuss the health of the oil market. “There is a divide in Opec between the relatively comfortable Gulf producers and the rest,” says Neil Atkinson, director of consultancy Datamonitor Energy.