`` At that point , the fundamental rebalancing could require oil prices fallingMovement.down.lossto operational stress levels for high-cost producers with well-head cash costs near $ 20/bbl , '' it said .
Venezuelan oil production has been fallingMovement.down.lossin the recent years , but was still around 1.7 million barrels per day in December .
With oil prices fallingMovement.down.loss, the immediate economic incentive of getting Iranian barrels smoothly back to the world market is diminished , analysts say , allowing Western powers more leeway to drive a harder deal .
This time around , Riyadh appears to be taking that stance from the start , with a focus on preserving the medium-term revenue of its 266 billion barrels of crude oil reserves rather than chase fallingMovement.down.lossprices and sacrifice their market .
In its World Energy Outlook 2018 , the Paris-based IEA said it had cutCause.movement.down.lossits longer-term oil price projections from last year , partly because of the fallingMovement.down.losscost of both renewable and conventional sources of energy , the worldwide push to tackle climate change and improve air quality and the boomGrow.strongboomGrow.strongin U.S. shale oil and gas output .
But Lagarde warned fallingMovement.down.losscrude prices were hitting some oil exporters particularly hard , especially Russia , Iran , Venezuela and Nigeria , leaving their economies vulnerableSlow.weak.
As CNN Money reported : `` Venezuelan oil production has been fallingMovement.down.lossfast since 2014 , but the country still pumped 1.7 million barrels a day in December , according to industry estimates . ''