OIL'S NEW BOSS

摘要

It's easy to see how the various princes, sheiks and emirs might have felt a bit out of place at last week's 40th-anniversary summit of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. For one thing, members of the famously fractious group (given up for dead only a couple of years ago amid plummeting oil prices) hadn't been able to see their way through the wars, political infighting and price gouging to convene such a gathering for a quarter-century. The other jaw dropper was that instead of making a quick jaunt to a neighboring desert kingdom, the heads of state and their massive entourages (Saudi Arabia brought 340 people) jetted all the way to Venezuela—the only Latin American member of this exclusive club, and long a member in poor standing for consistently flouting production quotas.