Why should the OPEC stop pumping? Why is it expected that the OPEC has to regulate prices?<p>Lifting prices, the cost of bringing oil to the surface, are much higher in the US than in the most important OPEC producers. Regulating the price by limiting supply would benefit non OPEC, high lifting cost producers the most. This are different times, now OPEC is letting the market, governed by supply and demand set the prices.<p>The expectation before was that non OPEC countries would produce as much as they could and OPEC would supply the leftover demand. It was called &quot;The  Call on OPEC&quot; that was back when the US was a net importer. Now the US producers more oil than what it imports. Heck, is producing more oil than  Saudi Arabia!<p>This article explain quite well how the call on OPEC used to work and why it is crazy in today&#x27;s environment:<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;blogs.platts.com&#x2F;2015&#x2F;01&#x2F;02&#x2F;opec-call-price-collapse&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;blogs.platts.com&#x2F;2015&#x2F;01&#x2F;02&#x2F;opec-call-price-collapse&#x2F;</a><p>Edit: excuse my English, is not m my native language and this was written on a phone.