Brent crude fell below $40 a barrel for the first time in almost seven years after OPEC effectively abandoned limits on crude output, prompting speculation that a record global glut will continue.

Depressed oil prices are likely to linger longer as analysts dropped their predictions further for next year, according to a Reuters poll, assuming OPEC will not cut output when it meets Dec. 4.

A plunge in oil prices this year has prompted a $35 million cut to the budget for Alaska’s Department of Transportation, making the state’s truckers nervous.

Oil climbed from a two-week low amid speculation that the buildup of U.S. crude inventories will soon end as refinery demand increases.

Technology can be used to increase the world’s proven oil and gas reserves by two-thirds — almost double the amount needed to meet demand through 2050 — keeping energy supplies plentiful and affordable, according to BP.

The United States plans to sell millions of barrels of crude oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve from 2018 until 2025 under a budget deal reached Oct. 26 by the White House and top lawmakers from both parties.

Oil at $50 a barrel is a “gift to the world” as prices should be low enough to spur economic growth, according to the head of Abu Dhabi’s Department of Economic Development.

Oil slipped, capping the lowest quarterly average price since the start of 2009 as U.S. crude inventories climbed.

Oil jumped the most in more than six years, caught up in a relief rally that swept the globe as the U.S. economy grew more than predicted.