Iran said in September it had approved a draft of international oil and gas contracts to attract foreign investors and oil buyers once international sanctions are lifted but has not provided details so far.

The country produced 44.5 million tons of petrochemicals in the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20, 2015), with over 10 percent rise from 40.5 million tons in its preceding year.

Tehran has recently strengthened ties with Moscow, which is considering providing two loans worth a total of $7 billion to Iran.

"The total petroleum production for the first ten months in 2015 is about 188.6 million Sm3 [standard cubic metres] oil equivalents (MSm3 o.e.), broken down as follows: about 74.9 MSm3 o.e. of oil, about 18.2 MSm3 o.e. of NGL and condensate and about 95.5 MSm3 o.e. of gas for sale. The total volume is 10.3 MSm3 o.e. higher than for the same period in 2014," the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) wrote on Friday.

U.S. Rig Count is down 4 rigs from last week to 767, with oil rigs up 2 to 574, and gas rigs down 6 to 193. U.S. Rig Count is down 1,161 rigs from last year at 1,928, with oil rigs down 1,004, and gas rigs down 157. The U.S. Offshore rig count is 33, up 1 rig from last week, and down 19 rigs year over year.

The cost to hire a supertanker - each capable of carrying 2 million barrels of oil - recently hit its highest level since 2008 at over $100,000 a day last month and currently remains at over $70,000 a day.

In Q3 2015 production of hydrocarbons reached 63.1 mmtoe (5.08 mboed). In 9M 2015 production of hydrocarbons reached 189.6 mmtoe (5.14 mboed). The level of production was ensured by accelerated drilling program, including increase in share of horizontal drilling with hydraulic fracturing, sidetracking, implementation of simultaneous-separate production and injection, measures of oil inflows stimulation.

Rosneft, a company led by Igor Sechin, said that in the first nine months of 2015 it produced 45.92 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas, increased from 40.87 bcm in the same period last year. On Friday, Gazprom reduced its 2015 forecasts to 427 bcm, a significant decrease on its forecasts released six months ago,which expected production for the year to reach 485 bcm.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin met with Emir of Kuwait Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah this week to discuss opportunities for cooperation in the fields of energy and diplomacy. The two countries also signed a memorandum for military technical cooperation.

Tehran and Baghdad today signed an 6-year agreement on November 11, aimed at exporting 25 million cubic meters per day (mcm/d) of Iranian gas to Iraq's Basra.