Electric cars run over Opec in new existential crisis

YOU wait decades for an existential crisis, then two come along at once. At least that's how it must feel for Opec's beleaguered ministers. In the short term the market for their oil is being eroded by rising production outside their control. Looking further ahead, oil demand itself is under threat from the electrification of road transport. Opec may not yet be dead, but its days are surely numbered.

The most obvious short-term threat to the group comes from the rapid rise in US shale oil, but the risks have expanded to include other areas like Brazil's prolific sub-salt discoveries and more recent finds further north along the east coast of South America.

An increasing volume of US crude is finding its way to markets in Asia that used to be the preserve of the group's Middle-Eastern powerhouses. China was the biggest foreign buyer of US crude in April - the most recent month for which EIA data are available - overtaking Canada for the second time this year. And Indian refiners are finding an appetite for heavier US grades that compete directly with Middle-Eastern crudes. This is a particular worry for Opec producers whose initial output cuts were said to target buyers in Europe and the Americas while sales to key custom…