Saudi King Abdullah Is Dead. Here Is What He Recently Said About Oil

After the market closed, Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah died. He is succeeded by his brother Salman. The Wall Street speculated about King Abdullah's health for quite a long time, wondering about the impact his death could have on crude oil prices. Saudis have always played a key role in crude oil production, mainly because of their spare capacity and the ability to increase production when necessary. In his most recent speech, that was read for him on January 6, King Abdullah said that his country will deal with low crude oil prices with a firm will. The statement didn't show any signs of decreasing production and it indicates that his successor might continue with the same policy. Saudi Arabia showed willingness to increase production before the big decline in crude oil price. King Abdullah assured John Kerry that he is going to do what it takes to ensure that conflicts in Syria and Iraq don't disrupt the supply. Recently, Saudi Arabia's officials were concerned that they are going to lose their market share to the U.S. producers if they decrease production and they made it clear that they are not going to cut production regardless the price.