[velodrome]

They're desperately trying to sell as much as possible before renwewables eat their lunch.

This is not the case. It may be in the next 10-20 years but the real reason is due to fracking. The fact is that the US / Canada has added additional supply to the market and no longer imports as much oil from OPEC.

http://www.drillingcontractor.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04...

[lern_too_spel]

makomk is right. US crude production is dropping since Saudi Arabia increased supply to drop oil prices below what the other suppliers can support. https://ycharts.com/indicators/us_crude_oil_field_production

[velodrome]

US crude is sold at market prices and is NOT specifically dependent on Saudi Arabia supply increases (e.g. another oil producer could cut production and zero out that increase).

Also, the price fell long BEFORE Saudi Arabia increased production (about a year). This was due to excess supply and why Saudi Arabia tried to cut production in 2014.

http://www.artberman.com/wp-content/uploads/Chart_Market-Bal...

https://ycharts.com/indicators/saudi_arabia_crude_oil_produc...

[lern_too_spel]

You have it exactly backwards. Saudi Arabia removed production caps in 2014. Shale fields cannot produce oil profitably at the resulting prices and are shutting down. http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0JA0O320141128