OPEC has made a habit of using oil production to influence pricing for decades. By doing so, they also had influence over policies of other countries. North American production was eroding that influence, as did a major drop in overall consumption. The Saudi's will suffer reduced gains by flooding a market already in an oil glut, but they won't be in the red anytime soon. It was actually a smart play on their part. Sure they'll get less for their oil in the short term, but their oil is much cheaper to extract than shale or oil sands.
The Saudi's can wait out the more expensive producers. Once some of them close shop, OPEC can crank the prices back up. When the other producers invest and start pumping oil again, the Saudi's can rinse and repeat as necessary.
Of course, this is the opinion of a casual foreign affairs observer. It's tough to speculate as to what motivation any of them have. The Saudi's may not have seen the glut coming. Most thought China was going to completely outpace the U.S. and drive the global economy. I was of the opposite opinion. Mainly because China is still communist and they also have a tendency to hide their scrapes and cuts. I had a discussion on another forum a couple years ago where I was in the minority in predicting China was an economic bubble waiting to burst.
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