The Middle Eastern kingdom of Saudi Arabia owns around 16 percent of the world’s proven petroleum reserves and is the second-largest member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. On Jan. 5, Saudi Arabia announced that it would unilaterally cut 1 million barrels of crude oil production a day starting in February. The decision was made to benefit Saudi Arabia’s economy and that of its partnering countries by increasing oil prices as a response to the weakened global economies caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.