Big bux:
I don't think the Saudis ever "need" the price to be that high.
It's a matter of profit margin per barrel, not "are we making or losing money per barrel if producing at that price" ... which is a concern for some other producers.
That said, I am sure they'd rather get as much profit per barrel as they could (who wouldn't?) but reducing production at the moment would enable some of their competitors to "overproduce" without a consequence. By keeping their production up, the Saudis are allowing a bit of pain to be felt by some who are not playing along.
There are politics involved in a lot of this, not just market/economics.