"US energy production was increasing… and I believe that the OPEC countries were a little bit fearful of that, and they wanted to try to utilize the resource they have to, as I said, put the Bakken [US oil and gas fields] out of business," Duncan said.
Over the last two years, OPEC countries have maintained a high level of oil production, averaging 31.5 million barrels per day in 2015, despite global oil prices declining to less than $30 per barrel at the beginning of the year.
The decline in oil prices led to major losses in the US energy sector, including the cancellation of new projects and billions of dollars of deferred investment.
"You look at the increase of supply that’s out there, I think the intent purpose was to put the American energy renaissance, the Bakken primarily, out of business and it is having that effect," Duncan said.
In 2015, the United States became a net energy exporter for the first time since the 1950s, largely as a result of new technologies, including hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, as well as new discoveries. The Bakken formation across the US states of North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming is among the most productive oil and natural gas formation.
The drop in energy prices over the past years has led to more than 150,000 job losses in the US energy sector and a nearly 80 percent decline in the oil rig count since October 2014.
