... but the numbers suggest otherwise. The last few years there is no increase in production by OPEC countries: http://www.eia.gov/cfapps/ipdbproject/iedindex3.cfm?tid=5&pi...
The Saudis used to keep to their role as swing producer but this time they're letting the rest of OPEC sweat. They've got currency reserves to weather this storm but most of the other OPEC members do not (save for the rich Gulf emirates). The Saudis are trying to teach the rest of OPEC a lesson and bring them back in line.
Couple that with the phenomenal increase in American oil and gas output due to fracking and horizontal drilling and you've got a situation in which two major producers, the US and Saudi Arabia, are flooding the market. Since there's no central authority over American producers, they'll drill whenever the market price will sustain their project. America is unique in that mineral resources are privately held rather than owned by the state, giving private enterprise the incentive to drill as much as possible until the price renders a given well uneconomical.
The end result is that the Saudis have abdicated their role (not for the first time, but this may be the last) and the Americans have picked up.
America is now the world's swing producer. No one saw that coming.
http://arabianindustry.com/petrochemicals/news/2014/dec/14/s...