From “post-OPEC” to “post-elasticity”

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are entering the late 2020s with shared medium-term strategic interests, even as their tactical behavior becomes increasingly competitive. Both recognize that they are operating within a limited strategic window for hydrocarbon exploitation, where global demand for the period 2025–2040 is stabilizing before entering a long-term decline. This is the last long cycle in which they can convert underground reserves into above-ground financial and industrial power.

In this environment, demand management is never a neutral process but a competitive one. As global consumption stabilizes and begins to decline, every intervention in demand turns into a battle over which barrel the market will absorb and which will remain unsold. Demand management does not function as a stabilizing mechanism but as a battleground for market share, price, and timing of monetization.

The emerging system is not “post-OPEC” but “post-elasticity,” where cooperation on security and long-term demand management will coexist with regular competition for market share, in an environment where every shock will leave a permanent distortion.

Read the entire article in Greek or translate below.

NAFTEMPORIKI  / OPINIONS, Tuesday, May 5, 2026

Από το «μετά τον OPEC», στο «μετά την ελαστικότητα»