Russia were left standing last month as Saudi Arabia failed to agree to a freeze in production at January levels, which caused negotiations to break down without an agreement. Just days later, a number of the most important Russian oil execs gathered at the Third National Russian Oil and gas Forum, which took place in Moscow between 19-21 April.

The speakers at this event were all in agreement that geopolitics is now a central factor in influencing the volatile oil market. However, most believed that the state of the global economy, market forces and advances in technology were still the leading factors in pushing oil prices up.

Speaking at the event, LUKoil’s Chief Executive Offices, Vagit Alekperov said:

“We must understand that the oil prices cannot change drastically because we are now reaching the projected output level that we set out to achieve with the investments that we historically made six, five, four years ago, and the production cannot be curtailed.”

Alekperov also commented that the Persian Gulf’s current geopolitical situation has caused Middle Eastern members of OPEC to compete even more fiercely for their slice of the market. He says that that Persian Gulf companies have tried to increased their output in order to recover budget shortfalls caused by the oil price slump, and this could cause problems for companies like ExxonMobil, which makes Mobiltemp SHC 100, and other major oil producers.

However, he also believes that oil prices are beyond their lowest point, and that 2016 should see prices of at least $50 per barrel.