Brace yourself for pricier oil

Global growth, and hence demand for oil, could surprise on the upside next year, leading to a bounce in the oil price.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman © FETHI BELAID/AFP via Getty Images

Mohammad bin Salman: his "sale of the century" was a flop
(Image credit: Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman © FETHI BELAID/AFP via Getty Images)

"The sale of the century has ended in farce," says Ambrose Evans-Pritchard for The Daily Telegraph. The "privatisation" of Saudi Aramco, which pumps about 10% of the world's oil, was supposed to be the biggest flotation in history. But instead of raising the once mooted figure of $100bn, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman got just $25bn. That will "barely cover the kingdom's fiscal deficit for six months".

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Markets editor

Alex is an investment writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2015. He has been the magazine’s markets editor since 2019. 

Alex has a passion for demystifying the often arcane world of finance for a general readership. While financial media tends to focus compulsively on the latest trend, the best opportunities can lie forgotten elsewhere. 

He is especially interested in European equities – where his fluent French helps him to cover the continent’s largest bourse – and emerging markets, where his experience living in Beijing, and conversational Chinese, prove useful. 

Hailing from Leeds, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. He also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Manchester.