Shift in Saudi thinking on prices deepens Opec rift

Dubai

AS OPEC officials gathered this week to formulate a long-term strategy, few in the room expected the discussions would end without a clash. But even the most jaded delegates got more than they had bargained with. "Opec is dead," declared one frustrated official, according to two sources who were present or briefed about the Vienna meeting.

This was far from the first time that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' demise has been proclaimed in its 56-year history, and the oil exporters' group itself may yet enjoy a long life in the era of cheap crude.