Game over: Saudi Arabia threatens to increase oil production to dangerously drive America out of the oil market

Despite the continuing decline of the price of oil, Saudi Arabia has actually increased its oil production in an attempt to gain a victory in the oil war against shale drillers in the United States.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The Middle Eastern oil producer has increased production to 9.8 million barrels per day, its highest output level since October 2014, and the country is trying to widen its shrunken share of the oil market.

Get a Catholic email address for yourself, or give one as a gift. Safe, secure, and encrypted.

During a recent press conference, Khalid al-Falih, the CEO of Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia's state run oil company said: "Supply and demand and the rules of economics will govern. It will take time for the current glut to be removed."

This decision means that Saudi Arabia is now pumping out 300,000 more barrels per day than it had when last measured by Opec. The major player in the international oil cartel, Saudi Arabia had decided to allow oil prices to fall in order to  keep non-Opec member oil producers-like the U.S. and Russia-limited in the oil market.

While Russia has been greatly harmed by this decision, so have many other Opec nations, such a Venezuela. The U.S. has not been harmed by oil falling to $48 a barrel (as of January 27), and have also upped production.

Saudi Arabia has the ability to pump out 12.5 million barrels of oil per day, and wields enormous influence in the global oil industry, and pumping more oil can clearly be seen as a move to weaken the U.S. and other competitors.

Taking care of your body and mind is easy, but how are you taking care of your spiritual health?

By making continued oil production unprofitable, Saudi leadership may be hoping for an increase in oil production, which would rebound prices to their 2013-early 2014 levels.

"If we cut production then there will be spare capacity and producers will not invest, or postpone projects. The market will rebound back higher than the $147 we saw in 2008," said Abdalla Salem el-Badri, the secretary general of Opec during an interview with the Telegraph, London.

---

'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'