Preliminary production figures for August 2017 show an average daily production of 1 918 000 barrels of oil, NGL and condensate, which is a decrease of 41 000 barrels per day compared to July. Total gas sales were 10.4 billion Sm3 (GSm3), which is a decrease of 0.1 GSM3 from the previous month.

By 1021 GMT, international benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 was up 27 cents, or 0.5 percent, at $54.54 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 was up 38 cents, or 0.8 percent, at $48.61 a barrel.

EIA forecasts Brent spot prices to average $51/b in 2017 and $52/b in 2018. Expected growth in natural gas exports and domestic natural gas consumption in 2018 contribute to the forecast Henry Hub natural gas spot price rising from an annual average of $3.05/MMBtu in 2017 to $3.29/MMBtu in 2018.

The OPEC Reference Basket rose for the second-consecutive month in August to average $49.60/b, representing a gain of $2.67/b or 6%. Year-to-date, the Basket was 30.9% higher at $49.73/b. Crude futures prices also saw gains with ICE Brent increasing 5.5% to $51.87/b and NYMEX WTI up 3.0% at $48.06/b. Year-to-date, crude futures prices were more than 20% higher. During the week of 29 August money managers cut WTI futures and options net long positions by 105,671 contracts to 147,303 lots, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said. Money managers slightly reduced Brent futures and options net length contracts by 1,296 to 416,551 lots during the same week.

U.S. crude for October delivery CLc1 was up 41 cents, or 0.9 percent, at $47.89 a barrel by 0648 GMT, having tumbled 3.3 percent on Friday. London Brent crude for November delivery LCOc1 was up 30 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $54.08, having settled down 1.3 percent.

Глава "Роснефти" Игорь Сечин ожидает, что в 2018 году цена на нефть будет колебаться в пределах $40-$43 за баррель. "При предварительном анализе, в следующем году мы будем иметь цены в пределах $40-43 за баррель", - сказал он в интервью телеканалу "Россия 24".

Iran says its crude oil production will reach 4.5 million barrels per day in a matter of a few years, end of the 6th five-year development plan to 2022.

Oil giant Saudi Aramco will on Wednesday add 1.9 million barrels (300,000 kilolitres) of crude to storage that it holds in Japan, a Japanese trade ministry official said.

The worldwide rig count for August 2017 was 2,116, up 6 from the 2,110 counted in July 2017, and up 569 from the 1,547 counted in August 2016.

U.S. Rig Count is up 436 rigs from last year's count of 508, with oil rigs up 342, gas rigs up 95, and miscellaneous rigs down 1 to 1. Canada Rig Count is up 68 rigs from last year's count of 134, with oil rigs up 28 and gas rigs up 41, and miscellaneous rigs down 1 to 0.