ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson told the IHS CERAWeek conference in Houston that low prices could be around for a few years.

"People need to settle in for us to be in a different price environment for the next couple of years and then we'll see where it goes," he said.

Tillerson revealed he was waiting to see if the wider oil industry had a similar experience to the US shale gas scene, where a big decline in rig activity over previous years did not reduce a corresponding fall in production capacity.

Meanwhile, BP CEO Bob Dudley told the conference that cheaper oil was here to stay and companies needed to adjust to that reality.

"I do think the industry needs to prepare for lower for longer," he said.

Dudley said US oil production would still increase despite falling rig activity and he expected prices to linger around existing levels for several years.