Don’t tell them this. But there is a brilliant strategic move OPEC could make that would SLOW the tidal wave of petroleum production they see coming. This is a secret....
If they were to significantly ramp up production and drive the price of a barrel of oil down to about $40/barrel, the shale development and several other processes would be too expensive to bring oil to market (at least for new ventures). They would have to wait out the market before driving it back up.
Here’s the crutch for them. They would have to accept a low ROI and potentially even some profit loss for a while to stave off the onslaught. They would have to compete (uh oh). But they do have the power right now to affect supply and demand (at least for a little while longer) to the extent that they can manipulate the futures markets.
Don’t worry, they would never dream of doing this.