Fatih Birol, International Energy Agency (IEA) chief on Thursday said that he expects the oil market to come back to balance from overhead supply if there is no major economic downturn by next year. He also says that he cut the oil investment by 40 percent in past two years.

“This year, we are expecting the biggest decline in non-OPEC oil supply in the last 25 years, almost 700,000 barrels per day. At the same time, global demand growth is at a hectic pace, led by India, China, and other emerging countries,” said Birol.

“At the turn of this year or latest 2017, we expect oil markets to rebalance and the prices to rebalance. When we look at all the fundamentals – demand, supply and stocks – I have all the reasons to believe that in the absence of a major economic downturn we are going to see balance in the markets latest by 2017.”

He also said Iran`s crude oil exports may rise this year by half million barrels after some sanctions against the country were lifted.

“I think $45 is a bit of a relief for all the oil producers around the world, but this is still far lower than to make the entire shale oil production profitable for the United States. In general, we think Iran could bring if all the conditions are appropriate, about 500,000 barrels per day to the markets,” he said.

A source that is very close to Iran oil policy said that Iran is planning to recover its share of the world oil market. Also with the previous sale like $6 a barrel in past it is trying to withstand in the oil market.