Going Rogue

Saudi Arabia is coming up with a cover story in the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi while the fate of the global oil market hangs in the balance.

After Saudi Arabia made veiled threats against the world that it might use oil as a political weapon to deflect from punishment for the murder of Mr. Khashoggi, now it looks as if they are trying to find a way out of the blame for what is now a major political nightmare. 

President Trump’s assertion that he had spoken to Saudi Arabia’s king Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman  “firmly” denied any involvement in the disappearance of journalist and suggested that it may have been, he is not sure, some rogue elements below the King and Crown Prince’s pay grade. Of course, rogue agents are blindness whether willful or not is a convenient excuse to try to minimize the geopolitical and economic fallout from this despicable act.

So, it appears that the first step by Saudi Arabia to defuse the crisis is to admit that what had happened was an interrogation that went wrong. They are going to say that some lower level thug took it upon himself to kill Mr. Khashoggi, even after Crown Prince Salman was on record saying that he has left the scene of the crime. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo flew to Saudi Arabia to try to avoid this blowing up any further and if I were the Saudis, I’ll be ready to accept some punishment for this crime, return the body of Khashoggi to his family, and pay them damages and be ready to pump more oil when the U.S. says they need it, especially ahead of the November Iranian sanctions.

In fact, the Saudis may already be trying to win back President Trump’s favor by lowering prices on U.S. oil, while raising them on everyone else. The Wall Street Journal reported that “The Saudi Arabian Oil Co. raised crude prices for many of its global customers in early October, but kept them cheaper for its clients in the U.S. When a puzzled European buyer asked a senior Aramco executive why his American rivals were getting a better deal, he said he got an unequivocal response: “It’s a message to Trump.”