Glencore could increase its Xstrata merger terms to three of its shares and Qatar could accept, to become one of Glencore's biggest shareholders and be in a position to eventually control the merged business as Glencore's founding shareholders among its executive ranks opt for an easier life and sell down their personal stakes. Or, Qatar could "greenmail" a cash sweetener out of Glencore, or it could lob its own cash counter bid for Xstrata, putting pressure on Glencore to decide whether it wants a huge pile of Qatar's cash to go hunting for another target (BHP Billiton springs to mind). Whatever happens, Qatar's very public intervention in the once sweet marriage that Glencore and Xstrata had planned for themselves is proving to an interesting insight into the thinking of oil-powered sovereign wealth funds.