- It could easily take until the end of the decade for better times to return to the oil industry that already has endured a longer than expected slump, Total (TOT -0.1%) CEO Patrick Pouyanne and Weatherford (WFT +2.2%) CEO Mark McCollum tell the World Petroleum Congress in Istanbul.
- “Lower for longer is the new normal," with exploration slowing and producers outside U.S. shale areas not increasing their spending, says Baker Hughes (BHGE -0.3%) CEO Lorenzo Simonelli.
- Dinesh Kumar Sarraf, chairman of India’s state-run Oil & Natural Gas Corp., says companies must even be prepared for a “lower forever oil price” - Brent crude currently trades for ~$47/bbl, less than half the level of three years ago.
- "We have to remain very disciplined about spending and not assume that the price will go up," says BP's Bob Dudley, but "it's lower for longer, but not lower forever."
- The most optimistic tone, at least for the longer term outlook, may have been struck by Halliburton (HAL +1.3%) Senior VP Mark Richard, who believes that sooner or later the market will catch up with the decline in spending.
- Now read: Baker Hughes, A GE Company: Buying Opportunity
Original article