The last time they encountered a "crude oil price war" orchestrated by Saudi Arabia, American oil producers lost miserably.

In 1986, Saudi Arabia's crude oil "faucet" remained open for four months, and oil prices plummeted 67% to just over $10 per barrel.

The U.S. crude oil industry suffered a heavy blow. In the following nearly 20 years, crude oil production stagnated, and Saudi Arabia regained its throne in the crude oil market.

Now that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting is approaching, although no one expects Saudi Arabia and its partners to "release water" on such a large scale as before, and the production of U.S. shale oil has also expressed dissatisfaction. Production will be cut, but that tragic memory has once again resurfaced in the minds of U.S. oil industry executives.

Michael Lynch, a 37-year veteran of the crude oil industry and president of the consulting firm Strategic Energy and Economic Research, told Bloomberg: The collapse of crude oil prices in 1986 was unexpected for the U.S. crude oil industry, and many companies were forced to shut down. No one can forget that period, it is part of American cultural memory. OPEC contributes about 40% of the world's crude oil output, and its daily output in October reached 31 million barrels, exceeding the 30 million barrel target.

Oil prices have fallen by more than 30% since their highs in June. According to the Wall Street News website, the OPEC meeting will be held tomorrow. WTI crude oil fell by US$1.69 yesterday, or 2.2%, to close at US$74.09 per barrel, a four-year low. Brent oil prices fell 1.7% to settle at $78.33 a barrel, a four-year low.

Sarah Emerson, executive of consulting firm ESAI Energy, said: Someone has to take action. OPEC seems to be saying, "Does it have to be us (take action)?" Market battle

In fact, Saudi Arabia did not strike preemptively during the 1986 crash. For a long time, Saudi Arabia has acted as a regulator of supply in the crude oil market. When oil prices rise, it increases supply, and when oil prices fall, it reduces production.

Data compiled by Bloomberg show that as output from other OPEC members increased, Saudi Arabia's daily crude oil production dropped from more than 9 million barrels in 1981 to 3.175 million barrels in 1985. Pulitzer Prize winner Daniel Yergin pointed out that this has caused Saudi Arabia to face an increasing fiscal deficit problem.

In December 1985, Saudi Arabia announced its intention to regain crude oil market share, and oil prices immediately began to fall, from a peak of US$31.72/barrel in November 1985 to a low of US$10.42 in March of the following year. .

In December 1986, OPEC reached a new "market sharing" agreement. At this time, U.S. oil explorers had been hit hard, and unemployment rates in major oil-producing areas soared. The unemployment rate rose to 8.9% in Oklahoma and 9.3% in Texas, while the national average at the time was about 7%.

Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) show that in 1986, crude oil output in Oklahoma and Texas fell by 8.3% and 7.1% respectively.

James Richie, co-founder of energy extraction services company Kruse Energy & Equipment, told Bloomberg that "the market was flooded with crude oil extraction equipment at the time." Richie, who has been professionally auctioning oilfield equipment for 32 years, said he led 86 auctions that year, more than double the number in a normal year. In 1986, oilfield equipment became worthless. Bloomberg said that this period of history may explain why U.S. shale oil drillers today blame Saudi Arabia and OPEC for the price decline and believe that the "crude oil price war" is designed to force them out.