This is a misconception. Over time, OPEC actually LOWERS prices, not raises them. This is because oil has lag time from investment to production, so it has na

This is a misconception. Over time, OPEC actually LOWERS prices, not raises them. This is because oil has lag time from investment to production, so it has natural boom/bust cycles. If there was no moderator akin to a central bank, producers would eventually be knocked out of the market and set the stage for prices to rise to marginal benefit. Producers need reduced price volatility to make decisions, and also some producers have higher costs and cannot survive in low price environments. We saw something like this is 2008 where oil rose to $140/barrel and people still paid that price. This can happen again once shale growth levels, and years of underinvestment in expensive oils like deepwater and oil sands bite. Sorry, but once again Trump doesn't know what he is talking about. He majorly F'd the OPEC countries and allies by telling them he'd sanction Iran and then pulling back on it after they invested in production. You cannot simply turn on and off the taps for oil, and he doesn't understand that. OPEC had no choice but to plan a cut or else the market would have driven more into bankruptcy. Edit: Also a fun fact - US shale oil primarily produces gasoline, so even if OPEC cuts we still have adequate supply of gasoline. But actually prices for gas aren't down much because of added taxes. The Saudi oil minister actually commented on that this week, that it is unfair that they helped consumers by increasing production (as Trump requested) but when crude prices fall governments fill the gap with taxes.