And Now For Some Good News

In case you missed this item from the Friday Financial Times:

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries said yesterday it was prepared for a price war unless Russia took steps to curb its rapidly growing production. A senior Opec official said the cartel, which supplies about a third of the world's oil, was becoming frustrated by Russia's improving relationship with the US and its growing share of the world market.

"The Russians are playing a dirty political game with Opec and it is becoming very hard to trust them. If they are keen on having a price war, so be it. It is time we abandoned the soft approach and became more aggressive," said the official.

The comments mark an escalation in the tension that has been building between Opec and Moscow over the past six months.