Britain's North Sea oil and gas sector has shed more than 5,000 jobs since late last year, the country's new Oil and Gas Authority said on Monday, putting an official figure on job losses resulting from a year-long decline in oil prices.

The October crude oil contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 84¢ to $46.25/bbl on Sept. 2 while the November crude oil contract also climbed 84¢ to $46.86/bbl. The natural gas contract for October declined 5¢ to a rounded $2.65/MMbtu. The Henry Hub, La., gas price dropped 3¢ to $2.71/MMbtu. The October ICE contract for Brent crude climbed 94¢ to settle at $50.50/bbl, and the November contract gained 93¢ to $51.29/bbl. The ICE gas oil contract for September dropped $10.25 to $471.50/tonne. The average price for the OPEC basket of 12 benchmark crudes declined $2.24 to $45.53/bbl on Sept. 2.

Oil prices fell more than 7 percent on concerns about global demand for petroleum, reversing a three-day rally that had pushed U.S. crude up 27.5 percent.

ConocoPhillips said Tuesday that it plans to cut about 10 percent of its global workforce.

Oil prices have rocketed more than 25 per cent in three trading sessions, with the latest boost coming from data on US production and vague hints of a change of thinking inside the Opec producers’ cartel.

“Today’s continuing pressure on prices, brought about by higher crude production, coupled with market speculation, remains a cause for concern for OPEC and its members—indeed for all stakeholders in the industry,” the commentary in the latest OPEC Bulletin said.

Supplies outside OPEC are expected to contract in 2016 for the first time since 2008, sliding by 200,000 barrels a day, according to the International Energy Agency. With consumption set to grow by 1.4 million barrels a day, OPEC and its de facto leader Saudi Arabia could seize the chance to broaden their market as competitors damaged by the price slump fall off.

"It's quite possible that if oil prices remain at the low levels for long, oil production could decline, as had been the case before. Anyway, we don't expect any significant cuts,"

"We cut our real GDP outlook... to take into account a weaker-than-expected second quarter, a deteriorating global emerging market outlook, and our oil price revisions,"

At a time when the oil price is languishing at its lowest level in six years, producers need to find half a trillion dollars to repay debt.