As more and more North American Oil is sourced from domestic fracking operations, the price of crude oil has been plummeting. According to Shawn McCarthy in the Globe and Mail article:

Oil sinks on Saudi Arabia’s intention to cut prices

crude oil prices have hit lows not seen since 2010. As North American companies such as Suncor Energy Inc. increase the supply of oil, the prices naturally drop due to the law of supply. However, prices are also falling drastically due to existing foreign firms( Oil companies based in countries like Iraq and Saudi Arabia) lowering prices, adopting a cost leadership strategy. Their oil is cheaper to produce and also takes advantage of cheaper shipping costs. In an effort to drive out competition, they are lowering prices to levels that North American companies simply cant match, due to fracking being more expensive and shipping costs generally being a lot higher. As we discussed way back in class 7, this Cost Leadership strategy effectively allows foreign oil companies to occupy a distinct rung on the oil industry ladder, despite there being a large number of competing firms.