The sale this week of a small stake in Saudi Aramco, the Dhahran-based oil company, bears a sickly resemblance to a similar deal three years ago involving Russia’s Rosneft. When no foreign buyer could be found at a price acceptable to Vladimir Putin, a sham sale was ginned up that subsequently was subsumed in controversy. The deal did little to advance Mr. Putin’s aim of showing that Russia had weathered sanctions and was alluring to Western investors again. No, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, popularly known as MBS, didn’t...

Source: Wall Street Journal December 13, 2019 22:41 UTC