Investors have pulled billions from US stock funds for the third straight week amid sharp market gyrations, which have frayed investor nerves as global equity bourses slid deeper into correction territory.

Iran's annual average crude oil production is forecast at 3.1 million b/d in 2016 (10% of projected total OPEC production), and almost 3.6 million b/d in 2017.

Iran is in a good position to deliver on its target to raise oil output by 500,000 b/d within six weeks and by a further 500,000 b/d six months after that.

Flint Hills Resources LLC, the refining arm of billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch’s industrial empire, said it offered to pay $1.50 a barrel Friday for North Dakota Sour, a high-sulfur grade of crude, according to a corrected list of prices posted on its website Monday. It had previously posted a price of -$0.50. The crude is down from $13.50 a barrel a year ago and $47.60 in January 2014.

In a stark assessment of the oil market, the International Energy Agency warned of an oil overhang of at least 1m barrels a day for a third consecutive year in 2016.

The impact is not confined to the United States. Oil and gas projects around the world worth $380 billion have been postponed or canceled since 2014.

“I am optimistic about the future, the return of stability to the global oil markets, the improvement of prices and the cooperation among the major producing countries,” al-Naimi said. “Market forces as well as the cooperation among producing nations always lead to the restoration of stability. This, however, takes some time.”

Although analysts are making cautious predictions in the short term, the EIA also indicates that prices in 2017 may be as high as $3.22/MMBtu, representing a major leap in prices for next year.

US light, sweet crude oil prices for February delivery gained modestly on the New York market Jan. 14, closing at above $31/bbl while Brent prices on the London market closed just above $31/bbl within days of both benchmarks briefly dipping under $30/bbl.

The country's energy minister, who said in December that the global oil market could return to a balance by the end of 2016, as long as producers do not raise output from current levels, said on Thursday this may not now happen until early 2017.