Having done what they can to help Bush's GOP in the coming elections, the Saudis are getting ready to push the price back up:
Ministers are aware their failure to speak with one voice in the two weeks leading up to the hastily convened [OPEC] talks has contributed to oil's slide to $US58 a barrel, 26 per cent off its mid-July peak and near its lowest level this year.
The silence in public of OPEC's most influential member, leading exporter Saudi Arabia, had led some analysts and investors to speculate the kingdom opposed a plan to cut one million barrels per day, or 3.6 per cent, of group output.
Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi laid those doubts to rest when he arrived in Doha on Thursday, saying he stood fully behind the planned reduction and suggesting a further cut of 500,000 bpd could follow when OPEC meets in Nigeria in December.
