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.

Shell’s net debt has more than doubled to $75bn since its £35bn takeover of BG Group was completed in February.

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.

An oasis of calm in a hot region, the UAE is at once a critical geo-market and the ideal gateway to the most important oil and gas region in the world.

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 can operate in the $50 range, we have to," he said, adding that the business needs to be resilient to price cycles, can adapt and is agile.

"I don't necessarily have the view that we are setting ourselves up for a big crunch within the next 3, 4, 5 years," CEO Rex Tillerson told the Oil & Money conference.