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The big beasts of the global oil industry will gather today at one of the most important events in their calendar – the IHS CERAWeek conference in Houston, which is often dubbed the Davos of the energy industry.

Written anywhere but the Financial Times, an article on the future of the oil industry might just pass you by.

Earlier this week, a little glimpse of hope for the oil industry concerning a respite in the oil price plunge all but vanished after it emerged that a “make or break” meeting over the weekend between key OPEC players had ended with no agreement on cutting production.

Oil giant BP sent shock-waves through the industry this morning with what has been described as a “jaw-dropping” loss.

Last week, the British Prime Minster, David Cameron, flew to Aberdeen, the oil capital of the UK to announce £250 million emergency funding to “prop up the North Sea oil industry”; which is reeling badly from the low oil price.

Some of the world’s best known oil companies, including Shell, BP, Statoil and Total, face the humiliation of having a ratings downgrade, the internationally respected ratings agency, Moodys, has warned.

So the slide continues with no end in sight. As expected this morning, the oil price has fallen below $28 a barrel on the back of the historic news over the weekend of sanctions being lifted on Iran.

Every day, it seems, brings more bad news for the fossil fuel industry. The week started badly with the news that they US coal giant Arch Coal, which owns the world’s biggest coal-mining complex, was filing for bankruptcy.

It is not a Happy New Year for Big Oil, as the industry faces another daunting year of low oil prices, which could have a catastrophic impact on the US shale industry, amongst others.

There is a temporary reprieve this morning for the oil industry as the oil price has climbed one percent on the news that US drilling has slowed yet again.