Iraq plans to increase crude-oil exports in January, government records show, immediately raising questions about its commitment to slashing production in line with OPEC’s landmark production agreement last month.

Operations have restarted at two key oil fields and a connected pipeline in Western Libya that have been shut down for over two years, Libyan officials said, following an agreement with local tribes.

Oil production companies recorded positive earnings from their upstream (exploration and production) operations in the third quarter of 2016 for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2014.

Located in waters up to 500-metres deep, Malikai is Shell’s second deep-water project in Malaysia, following the successful start-up of the Gumusut-Kakap platform in 2014. Malikai is expected to have a peak production of 60,000 barrels per day. As the company’s first TLP in the country, Malikai is an example of the strength of Shell’s global deep-water business, applying TLP expertise from decades of operations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

December 2016 U.S. oil production will down 20 tbd, gas production will down 94 mcfd.

The first global crude supply pact in 15 years has underlined the growing energy alliance between Saudi Arabia and Russia, as the depth of the two-year oil slump forces co-operation between once unlikely partners.

OPEC crude oil production for November rose for the sixth straight month, to a record 33.86 million b/d.

For China’s beleaguered oil sector, a deal by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut output could offer a lifeline to an industry that has been hammered by low prices—and may also hasten its shift away from a heavy reliance on Saudi crude.

Shares in US oil companies soared on Wednesday as Opec ministers meeting in Vienna agreed a plan to cut output by 1.2m barrels per day. “The biggest beneficiaries from this Opec move are the US shale players,” said Mike Kelly, head of exploration and production company research at Seaport Global Securities.

OPEC in its 171st ordinary meeting on Wednesday, November 30, agreed to Iran's share of 3.9 million barrels per day in its total output.