Oil bosses would love to skip horrible 2016

The world’s top oil executives gathered in Houston this week seem to agree on one thing: This year is set to be so horrible many skip right to 2017 and beyond to talk about hopes for market rebalancing that so far has eluded the battered industry.

In April 2015, the energy sector’s biggest annual conference was abuzz with speculation when oil prices might bottom and the idea prices could hover below $60 for years after tumbling from over $100 seven months earlier was considered a sobering one.

This time, with prices near $30 and last year’s “lower for longer” catch phrase replaced by “even lower for even longer,” oil executives attending the IHS CERAWeek conference are more solemn and guarded in their predictions.