Oil is extremely cheap right now. Saudi Arabia could change that, but former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright predicts the Saudis won’t act to hike prices.
“It’s very hard to watch, I have to say, in terms of rational thinking,” Albright said in an exclusive interview with CNNMoney on the sidelines of the Albright Institute at Wellesley College.
Oil prices hit a 13-year low in January. Crude oil trades for a mere $30 a barrel — about the same price as the popular game Cards Against Humanity.
Saudi Arabia desperately needs oil prices to go back up. It’s hemorrhaging cash and having to borrow money. If Saudi Arabia cut back on its oil production, prices would likely shoot up. But Albright says that won’t happen.
“From everything I know about the Saudis, they are pretty clear about the fact that they need that market share. If they give it up, then they will not get it back,” she said.
The Saudis aren’t just worried about prices now, they are deeply concerned that America could become oil independent in the coming years, Albright says.
