OPEC seeks to regain its clout. This crash in oil prices isn't about supply and demand. It's about OPEC, and by OPEC, I mean specifically the Saudis, doing their level best to bring a halt to America's shale oil boom, and with it, much of the American economy.

Their thought process was that if they could squeeze out some U.S. producers, OPEC would regain its dominance and force the United States back into foreign oil dependence.

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And so far, it may be working, temporarily. Some smaller producers have fallen by the wayside, and many of the major oil companies and oil field service companies have announced major layoffs, which will hurt the U.S. economy very quickly.

But in my opinion, it's going to backfire in the long run. It may be a bump in the road for the shale revolution, but it's nowhere close to the end.

Saudi Arabia, whom we gratuitously refer to as our ally, just didn't like someone else taking center stage, so the best way the Saudis could regain the spotlight in their eyes was to maintain their high production levels and flood the market with low-priced crude.

In that respect, there is an oversupply, but that's just temporary. Other situations around the world, as well as the very harsh winter we're having right here in North America, will continue to deplete the glut.

All the OPEC members are bleeding money right now, but I believe that Saudi Arabia wouldn't move to cut production until someone over there (perhaps Ali al-Naimi, the Saudi petroleum minister) has a level head and sees that their huge stacks of riyals are getting smaller and smaller.

What started out to them as a "let's show Americans how we actually can control their market" turned into a big, fat "oops," which is not only harming their own country in the long run, but all of the OPEC countries in the immediate run. And it's hitting the other OPEC countries much harder than Saudi Arabia.

I think very soon the Saudis will hit the panic button. It's a rich country, but they can't lose money forever.

Chris Faulkner is chairman and CEO of Dallas-based Breitling Energy Corp.