Saudi Arabia isnt fan of the conspiracy theories

Saudi Arabia isn't a fan of the "conspiracy theories" surrounding the kingdom's oil policies.Oil took a massive plunge from over $100 a barrel in July to under $50 in January. Saudi Arabia'srefusal to cut production, especially when oil hit around $70 at Thanksgiving, raised eyebrows about the country's motives.In the past, Saudi Arabia would respond to a supply glut like the current one by pumping less oil.Energy analysts began to speculate that the Saudis were trying tokill off the North American shale revolution. Some shale operations are no longer profitable when oil falls below $50.Theories claiming OPEC has a "war on shale" and that OPEC is dying are wrong, Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi said in a speech on Wednesday in Berlin."OPEC and Saudi Arabia have yet again been maliciously -- and unfairly -- criticized for what is, in reality, a market reaction," the powerful official said.Al-Naimi said huge price swings often trigger a "frenzy of commentary ascribing various bizarre theories and motives -- about collusion or conspiracy-- to OPEC" and Saudi Arabia.Related: $2 gas is gone -- for nowSaudis 'engineered' oil meltdown:The fact that al-Naimi felt the need to respond underscores just how widespread the OPEC versus North American shale talk is.Richard Fisher, the president of the Dallas Fed, recently said theSaudis"engineered" the price dropafter the Middle Eastern nation belatedly woke up to just how big America's energy boom is. Fisher also noted that the Saudis benefit from cheap oil because of the pain it inflicts on Iran, their chief rival inthe region.Even the Saudi oil minister acknowledged the country's goal of maintaining market share. It didn't want a repeat of the 1980s when it lost ground by significantly cutting production."We will not make the same mistake again. Today, it is not the role of Saudi Arabia, or other certain OPEC nations, to subsidize higher cost producers by ceding market share," al-Naimi said.