> Ok, so the Saudis are acting to stop fracking, oil-shale exploitation
> And when the Saudis have made their point, they'll drop production, prices will go back up, everything will return to normal, more or less.
Something will happen, but I think the cat's out of the bag: Even if prices rise significantly, the US has proven to itself that it is/came become very quickly self supplying in oil. This significantly decreases the Saudi's leverage in world politics which changes some balances in the middle east and beyond quite significantly.
Similar things are true for Europe (especially in the east) with regard to Russia. Russia's medium-sized stick has been the threat to cut off gas to its western neighbours, and it gets really cold there in the winter.
> And when the Saudis have made their point, they'll drop production, prices will go back up, everything will return to normal, more or less.
Something will happen, but I think the cat's out of the bag: Even if prices rise significantly, the US has proven to itself that it is/came become very quickly self supplying in oil. This significantly decreases the Saudi's leverage in world politics which changes some balances in the middle east and beyond quite significantly.
Similar things are true for Europe (especially in the east) with regard to Russia. Russia's medium-sized stick has been the threat to cut off gas to its western neighbours, and it gets really cold there in the winter.