LOOKING WEST:

"There is a political agenda behind this," said Valérie Marcel, an independent consultant and author of a book on national oil companies. "I think they are responding to the expectations of a new generation."

As the Saudi kingdom is engaged in a face-off with Iran that has further escalated tensions in the Middle East, it is well aware of the need to address the rising desires of its own people, despite the erosion of Saudi Arabia's vast wealth.

In the view of Ms. Marcel and other Saudi watchers, the country's new leadership is trying to use the oil price collapse over the last two years to remake the economy and shift away from an oil-funded, government-dominated system to one where private business has a larger role. The leaders were appointed by King Salman, who came to power early last year after the death of his brother King Abdullah.

"They are using this crisis as an opportunity to make structural changes in the economy" that should have been made several years ago, said Rachel Ziemba, an analyst at Roubini Global Economics in New York.

Tweet   @brothersjudd