While I would not rule out your explanation, I personally think it’s more likely international pressure, trying to mitigate a global recession as well as possible. Most of OPEC actually have a lot invested in other ventures than oil, and China, too, does not have much interest in a global recession. Hell, even Russia itself actually doesn’t, really, they are just the party that would be most interested in still trying to keep oil prices up as much as possible, even if it hurt them in the long run, due to their ongoing invasion and fragile economy propped up by resource income making short-term stability a more pressing matter.
While I would not rule out your explanation, I personally think it’s more likely international pressure, trying to mitigate a global recession as well as possible. Most of OPEC actually have a lot invested in other ventures than oil, and China, too, does not have much interest in a global recession. Hell, even Russia itself actually doesn’t, really, they are just the party that would be most interested in still trying to keep oil prices up as much as possible, even if it hurt them in the long run, due to their ongoing invasion and fragile economy propped up by resource income making short-term stability a more pressing matter.
Yeah, for all the talk about how the US is fucked, and they are, this tarrif thing will also seriously mess up the rest of the world too.