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.

The head of Russian oil major Lukoil said on Wednesday that he sees oil prices rising above $50 per barrel by the end of the year, RIA news agency reported, citing his TV interview.

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

Russia’s economy is closer to growth than at any time since it slid into recession and central bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina is focusing on what she says are “positive signals.”

Several Russian officials say the government is considering raising income-tax levels and increasing value-added tax but that any changes would only take place after 2018—a presidential election year.

“Markets fluctuate, but we know that science does not. You have to be patient. The cycle from discovery to deployment can take decades.”

Without any of those reforms, Saudi Arabia’s financial troubles would continue to intensify.