U.S. Rig Count is up 93 rigs from last year's count of 619, with oil rigs up 68, gas rigs up 24, and miscellaneous rigs up 1. Canadian Rig Count is up 114 rigs from last year's count of 231, with oil rigs up 74 and gas rigs up 40.

Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, were trading at $55.59 per barrel at 0313 GMT, up 51 cents, or 0.93 percent, from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $53.22 a barrel, up 47 cents, or 0.89 percent.

The World Bank is holding steady its crude oil price forecast for the year at $55 per barrel, a 29 percent jump from 2016. The energy price forecast assumes members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other oil producers will partially comply with an agreement to limit production after a long period of unrestrained output.

Brent crude oil spot prices are expected to remain fairly flat during 2017, in part as a result of the responsiveness of U.S. tight oil production to rising oil prices in late 2016, and they are expected to average $53/b for the year.

Oil demand grows but at a slowing pace; and non-combusted uses replace transport as the main source of demand growth by 2030s

Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh says Iran's crude oil output is at 3.9 million barrels per day.

Libya froze all new foreign investment in 2011 after the civil war that toppled strongman Moammar Gadhafi. International oil companies such as Total SA of France and ConocoPhillips have long had operations in Libya, and Eni SpA of Italy has found ways to keep pumping even as clashes among warring militias and Islamic State damaged the country’s oil infrastructure.

PetroChina, China's biggest listed oil company by assets, expected the supply and demand for global oil market would gradually become balanced in 2017 and international oil prices would "recover," the company said late Wednesday in a profits warning for the 2016 annual result.

"We urge the United States to respect the facts, speak and act cautiously to avoid harming the peace and stability of the South China Sea,"

Brent crude LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, was trading at $55.42 per barrel at 0441 GMT, down 7 cents from its last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 fell 11 cents to $53.11 a barrel.