“We are working on preserving our traditional markets and we will supply those markets with oil in a competitive battle,” Igor Sechin, Rosneft chief executive officer said in London today.

Brent crude oil prices are forecast to average $38/b in 2016 and $50/b in 2017.

The 19th GCC summit took place amid the last great slump in oil prices, when crude had fallen to just $10 per barrel, worth around $14 today after adjusting for inflation.

North American oil and natural gas drillers will need to cut an additional 30 percent from their capital budgets to balance their spending with the cash coming in their doors even if crude rises to $40 a barrel, according to an analysis by IHS Inc.A group of 44 North American exploration and production companies are planning to spend $78 billion on capital projects this year, down from $101 billion last year.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 82 points, or 0.5 percent, to 15,944 as of 12:18 p.m. Eastern Time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 slipped eight points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,844. The Nasdaq composite fell 17 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,266. Stocks posted steep slides Monday and Friday.

Based on those trends, and even with the prospective increase in Iranian production, the oil market is likely to move closer into balance by the latter part of this year. That will still leave a significant inventory overhang that will take some time to work off. But it seems likely that the market will show at least some signs of turning by the end of this year.

Supply may exceed consumption by an average of 1.75 million barrels a day in the period, compared with an estimate of 1.5 million last month, and the excess could swell if OPEC adds more output, the IEA said. Iran raised production in January following the removal of international sanctions, Iraqi volumes reached a record and Saudi Arabia also ramped up output. The agency trimmed estimates for global oil demand.

President Obama’s proposal to add a new $10 per barrel tax on crude oil would harm consumers.

Crude oil prices soared by more than $2/bbl on both the New York and London markets Feb. 3, which analysts attributed to a sliding dollar. The oil price rally came despite a bigger-than-expected gain in US crude oil supplies.

Net loss of $2.007 billion ($1.38 per common share), due to non-cash asset writedowns, which were a result of the depressed commodity cycle, and a foreign exchange loss on U.S. dollar denominated debt.