Trump pressure

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al Falih’s assurances — backed up his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak — follow pressure from US President Donald Trump’s anti-Opec tweeting, as well as more conventional lobbying by major oil buyers. They give Saudi Arabia and Russia more room to ease consumer anxiety about prices, but risk a backlash from Iran and Venezuela, founder members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries that insist members can’t snatch one another’s market share.