What Happens to Oil Prices When the Saudi King Dies?

Not that the market will care, but succession in Saudi Arabia is looming. At 90, King Abdullah has outlived several of his hopeful successors, but his health has rapidly deteriorated in recent years and the absolute monarch is currently hospitalized with pneumonia. An all-out scramble for the throne is off the table for now, but the new ruler will not find the kingdom trouble free – low oil prices, extremism, and growing unrest among the domestic population pose significant threats to the world’s most important oil producer.