The Saudi-Russian ‘alliance’: A Saudi diversification card that can’t work well

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He is probably right about Russian-Saudi relations, but he does not really explain why Russia is helping drive the price of oil down, which does beg for explanation. Some interesting factoids too.

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But the two nations are certainly far from making an alliance for one simple reason: They are competitors in global oil market. This rivalry is most likely to continue to direct their bilateral relations, resulting in an uneasy framework.

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Though the Saudis seem to have partially achieved their objective, especially with regard to defense deals, they also seem to have lost something: Their erstwhile position in the Middle East as the chief US ally. It is not a coincidence that it was right after prince’s visit to Russia that the US finally pulled Turkey into the war against ISIS, allowing that country to deal as it pleased, with the Kurds as well. Since then, Turkish involvement in the Mideast conflict has increased manifold; while Saudi Arabia seems to be busy contesting Iran by any means at its disposal.

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For instance, in May 2015, Russia’s oil output reached a record 10.78 million barrels per day, pretty close to its Soviet-era production of 1987. This was significantly up from May last year, when Russian production stood at 10.08 million bpd. The record crude oil output from Russia is certain to continue putting pressure on the global crude oil markets. And in near term, Russia doesn’t appear to be considering any output cut.

On the other hand, as the world’s leading crude exporter, Saudi Arabia’s output is also in top gear. As per OPEC statistics, Saudi output rose by 697,000 bpd between February and May this year, rising to 10.3 million bpd in May 2015 vs. 9.69 million bpd a year earlier.

http://atimes.com/2015/08/saudi-russia-alliance-a-saudi-diversification-card-that-cant-work-well/

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1. Putin to speak at UN General Assembly before clashing with Obama

On September 1, Russia has chaired the UN Security Council. During the coming 30 days, Russia will pay first priority attention to such issues as struggle against terrorism and settlement of conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa.

The choice of the UN Security Council chairing state takes place in alphabetical order. Russia's presidency at the Security Council of the United Nations - the body that is responsible for maintaining international peace and security - falls for one of the most active months of the organization.

On September 15, the jubilee 70th session of the UN General Assembly is opening. On September 28, a high-level session will start working to bring together the majority of the heads of states and governments, as well as foreign ministers. To crown it all, at a special summit on 25-27 September, world leaders will adopt the global development agenda after 2015.

"There is a need to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the nature of conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa to determine directions for collaboration on the basis of the UN Charter," said Russia's permanent representative to the UN, Vitaly Churkin.

http://english.pravda.ru/russia/kremlin/01-09-2015/131777-putin_un_general_assembly_speech-0/