A crude awakening may be no more. De facto OPEC leader Saudi Arabia is reportedly targeting oil prices near $80 a barrel -- or even $100 a barrel. It has emerged as one of the loudest price hawks among oil producers, though other OPEC producers have pushed back on the higher targets. This stance, along with a number of other factors, has helped boost oil prices to their highest level since the fateful OPEC meeting in November 2014 when Saudi Arabia refused to cut its oil production, opting instead to drive down the price of oil to curtail rising U.S. tight oil production. Oil prices flirted with $75 a barrel on April 19. On April 20, major oil producers will descend on Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to discuss oil production cuts implemented last year to reduce oil inventories. During this meeting, Saudi Arabia is likely to outline its views about where...
