Berlin, Dec 3, IRNA -- Saudi Arabia has basically declared war on the booming US shale oil industry after convincing fellow OPEC members to maintain its current oil output, said Princeton University researcher.Hossein Mousavian.
Talking to IRNA, Mousavian said many US and European energy experts believe the Saudi action was aimed at the US and not Iran. In fact, many US politicians and experts view Riyadh's move as an act of war
against their country.
According to US experts, Saudi Arabia is targeting the US shale oil industry because the US could become the world's biggest oil exporter within the next few years, thus making the US no longer dependent on Saudi oil, said Mousavian.
Based on the assessment of political analysts, this would mean the US would no longer have any real interest in the Middle East because it is independent from the region in terms of its energy needs, he added.
Mousavian said a likely US pullout from the region would be a political nightmare for Saudi Arabia and Israel as both of them are counting on Washington's continued support.
He pointed out any likely normalization between Iran and the US could also result in a Saudi and Israeli isolation.
Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi was quoted saying at the recent OPEC meeting in Vienna that they must tackle the US shale oil boom by lowering prices and undermining the profitability of US and Canadian oil producers.
The high-cost of producing and extracting liquid oil from shale oil deposits is becoming uneconomic following a sharp drop in oil prices in the wake of OPECs recent decision not to cut oil production, experts were quoted saying.
By IRNA
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