The minister "has affirmed the need to proceed forth with increasing oil and gas production through enhancing the national effort and those of the licensed companies for the remainder of 2016 and also for 2017," the statement said.

Brent LCOc1 traded at $52.11 at 1000 GMT, 40 cents down, after touching $52.84 earlier, two cents below the 2016 high. U.S. oil futures traded as high as $50.74 a barrel, a three and a half month high, before falling by 30 cents to $50.14 a barrel. On Thursday they settled at $50.44 per barrel - the first settlement above $50 since June 23.

Last week, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to cut between 200,000 barrels a day and 700,000 barrels a day of their output to reduce a global oil glut. The 14-nation oil-producing group controls over a third of the world’s oil production, but said it also wanted non-OPEC producers to join the effort to curb output.

The court judgment released on Wednesday found that the companies owed nearly 484 billion CFA francs in royalties to the Chadian government. It did not explain why the penalties amounted to more than 90 times that amount.

If Nigeria and Libya restore production, the kingdom may need to cut twice as much. U.S. shale drillers also stand ready to fill any supply gap.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at $49.22 per barrel at 0649 GMT, up 53 cents, or 1.1 percent, from their last settlement. In international oil markets, benchmark Brent crude was trading at $51.38 per barrel, up 51 cents, or 1.0 percent.

Russian oil production continuing its slow climb for at least the next five years.

December Brent crude futures LCOc1 were last up 42 cents at $50.61 a barrel by 0913 GMT, off a session low of $49.74, while U.S. crude futures CLc1 rose 37 cents to $48.61 a barrel, above the day's low at $47.78.

Demand for land rigs will rise 29 percent next year to 579, the S&P Global Platts unit said in a report released at the Benposium East conference in New York on Wednesday. Platts RigData forecasts average West Texas Intermediate crude prices to climb 23 percent to $52.18 a barrel in 2017. The Henry Hub natural gas benchmark is seen increasing 26 percent to $3.05 per million British thermal units.

"OPEC made an exceptional decision today ... After two and a half years, OPEC reached consensus to manage the market," said Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh, who had repeatedly clashed with Saudi Arabia during previous meetings.