Why Saudi Arabia is Trying to Talk Down Oil Prices

Why in the world is Saudi oil minister Ali Naimi talking down oil prices? If the Saudis wanted lower oil prices, wouldn't they just pump more oil instead of writing op-eds? Yet Naimi took the op-ed page of the Financial Times last week and wrote:

It is clear that sustained high prices are starting to take their toll on European economic growth targets...The bottom line is that Saudi Arabia would like to see a lower price. It would like to see a fair and reasonable price that will not hurt the global economic recovery, especially in emerging and developing countries, that will generate a good return for producing nations, and that will attract greater investment in the oil industry.

It's not clear at all that Europe's record-high unemployment has anything all to do with oil prices. Europe can't grow because its leaders are heavily invested in prolonging the life of its current debt-based system, which mostly benefits bankers and bureaucrats. Oil prices don't have anything to do with it, although refinery capacity may have something to do with it.

* username: rupertbu