Brent futures LCOc1 were down 18 cents at $48.54 a barrel as of 0421 GMT, after ending the previous session 9 cents down. U.S. crude futures CLc1 fell 26 cents to $48.15 a barrel, having settled down 41 cents in the previous session.

International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol said last month that global upstream investment fell by 24 percent in 2015 and is set to fall by 18 percent in 2016.

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Saudi Arabia’s debt plans come as falling oil prices encourage other Gulf countries, including Abu Dhabi and Oman, to turn to capital markets for funding, setting a new record for borrowing by Middle Eastern governments so far in 2016. This week, Qatar said it was looking to tap dollar bond markets for the first time in five years.

The Brent crude contract for July on London's ICE was up $1.14 to $48.97/bbl. The August contract gained $1.29 to $49.43/bbl. The June gas oil contract gained $11.50 to $430.25/tonne.

Many companies on the teetering on the brink of insolvency find themselves buried under high interest rates and lack of deployable capital due to low commodity prices. Many banks have cut oil company credit lines as part of the semi-annual review by lenders. But the combined $8.9 billion in debt between the eighteen companies still looms ever menacingly in the background.

The transaction is expected to deliver annual pretax savings of at least $400 million as of 2019 and boost earnings per share significantly, the companies said in a statement on Thursday.

Chevron Corp on Tuesday said it will slash its budget by at least 17% for the next two years to save cash due to the low crude oil prices.

Perhaps the biggest hurdle is Russia’s business climate. While frequently fodder for criticism, there’s progress. Russia has surged by 61 spots in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index since 2013 to 51st this year.

Goldman Sachs said the market had ended almost two years of oversupply and flipped to a deficit.