So disturbing...but unsurprising. Investors are sick of autocratic regimes. Probably none of them make it out of this century. Some geo-politics if you don't mind:
MBS took over the Kingdom's sovereign wealth fund (the PIF) I want to say in '16, and ever since has spent it down on mostly nonsense. NOEM costs $500B, and AbuDhabi and Kuwait have larger funds now. The IEA and every integrated oil major believes oil demand will peak before 2028 (some are convinced it already has), and the trend already is natural gas and renewable energy—the latter being the fastest expanding form of energy, which is no good for the petrodollar. Iran has 17% of the world's proven natgas reserves, which perhaps hardens them a bit for the future, but they're majority Shi'ite and not friendly with SA Sunnis. The Ukraine war and disruptions have been a flop for oil prices, as the cost per barrel today is less than it was before the Ukraine war started, while inflation has spiked the Saudi break even point for oil profitability—I think that stands at $80/barrel today. The Kingdom runs a massive universal basic income scheme called the Citizens Account Program, so it'll have to keep-up to avoid social unrest. All the world's autocratic regimes are in deep shit directionally. Short 'em. ☠️