Saudi Arabia and Russia decided to wage an oil price war, and it is clear that American shale producers are the target. The Russian position was that it had supported output cuts for more than three years, and shale production has seized market share as a result.
Saudi Arabia's aggressive position to maximize its production beginning in April at a time when there is unprecedented oil demand destruction is clearly aimed at clearing out higher cost competitors as it tried once before beginning in late 2014. However, the strategy was only partially successful in reducing