Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down 51 cents, or 1 percent, at $50.28 a barrel as of 0648 GMT. Prices hit $50.13 earlier in the session, the lowest since Oct. 3. U.S. crude CLc1 was at $49.37 per barrel, down 59 cents, or 1.2 percent, from its settlement on Tuesday. It dropped to $49.21 earlier, the lowest since Oct. 10.

Big companies responded with big cuts. BP, Eni and their peers cut exploration spending by 35% in 2015 compared with 2013, Wood Mackenzie’s data show. Many projects now focus on lower-risk, lower-reward prospects as companies hope for incremental gains near existing infrastructure that they can bring online quickly and cheaply.

The World Bank is raising its 2017 forecast for crude oil prices to $55 per barrel from $53 per barrel as members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) prepare to limit production after a long period of unrestrained output.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down 18 cents at $51.60 a barrel by 0725 ET. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was down 37 cents at $50.48.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was trading at $50.59 a barrel at 0652 GMT, down 4 cents from its last settlement. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 7 cents at $51.45 per barrel.

However, Russian oil and natural gas companies’ capital investment programs have been less affected, if at all.

The economic consequences of cheap oil have been severe for Saudi Arabia. Riyadh is burning through foreign-exchange reserves, government contractors have gone unpaid, and civil servants, who make up two-thirds of the labor force, will get no bonus this year. The country’s fiscal deficit is more than 10 percent of gross domestic product, the highest ratio of any Group of 20 nation. The International Monetary Fund forecasts that Saudi economic growth will slow to about 1 percent next year, the worst since 2009. A few banks predict a recession.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were trading at $50.81 per barrel at 0011 GMT, up 52 cents, or 1 percent, from their last settlement. International Brent crude futures were at $52.14 a barrel, up 46 cents, or 0.9 percent.

We expect global GDP to more than double over the next 20 years, while energy demand increases by only 30%. The difference between those two things is improving energy efficiency or declining energy intensity. That is critical in underpinning the shift we expect to see in the rate of growth of carbon emissions. We think the energy intensity of GDP will decline much more rapidly than we’ve ever seen before.

Many nations are willing to join OPEC in cutting production to secure a continued improvement in oil prices, said Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy and Industry Khalid Al-Falih.