PRICE WAR WARNINGS BY OPEC MINISTERS REFLECT CONCERN OVER MARKET SHARES

Last week's blunt warnings by several OPEC Oil Ministers, including those of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Venezuela, that proposed switches to spot pricing in the UK and Norway could set the stage for an oil price war reflect not so much an anxiety over the short-term outlook for prices as a deep-seated concern over market shares during an extended period of depressed demand for oil. It is now more than ever clear that...