Is Saudi Arabia planning to leave OPEC?

King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center, a Riyadh-based energy think tank, is studying the potential fallout the dissolution of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries might have on the international oil market, the Wall Street Journal reported, giving rise to speculations in the international community.

But soon Khalid A. Al-Falih, Saudi Arabia's minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, said Riyadh has no intention of dissolving OPEC, emphasizing that the organization would continue playing the role of the oil industry's "central bank".

Adam Sieminski, KAPSARC president, on his part, said the research is just an attempt to think outside the box, which to a certain extent is influenced by the discussions in the United States. Since US President Donald Trump has consistently criticized OPEC's oil policies and played down its value in stabilizing oil prices, several researchers were motivated to study the possible scenarios in an OPEC-less world.