Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah died on Thursday night.

Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, who became King of the Arab state in 2005, will be succeeded by his brother, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. The markets speculated about Abdullah's health for the majority of last year, particularly on the effect his death could have on crude oil prices.

Prices for the commodity were up more than 2 percent following confirmation of the news.

Saudi Arabia has historically played a key role in crude oil production. In his most recent speech that was read for him on January 6, Abdullah remarked that his country would deal with low prices with a "firm will."

That statement, in particular, didn't show any signs of cutting output.

Related Link: OPEC: Oil Prices Will Rebound, Return To 'Normal' Level

Also worth noting: Saudi Arabia's officials recently revealed they were concerned about losing market share to U.S. producers if they decrease production. OPEC Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri said he believed oil prices will "rebound" and "go back to normal very soon."

In Thursday's after-hours session, the United States Oil Fund LP (ETF) (NYSE: USO) was up 1.4 percent. It's still down more than 14 percent year-to-date.

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