Sinopec Ltd. reported that Fuling shale gas field in southwestern China produced a cumulative 3.76 billion cu m of gas from January to September. The 107% increase in production was accompanied by additional processing capacity of 5.5-6.5 bcm, the company said. In 2014, Sinopec announced plans to bring production capacity to 10 bcm/year by 2017.

Output in the U.S. will fall 800,000 barrels a day this year, Adam Sieminski, administrator for the EIA, said in an interview in Riyadh. That would be the first drop since 2008, data compiled by Bloomberg show. OPEC’s attempts to carry out an agreement on limiting production are still “very much up in the air,” he said.

Global offshore oil production (including lease condensate and hydrocarbon gas liquids) from deepwater projects reached 9.3 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2015. Deepwater production, or production in water of depths greater than 125 meters, has increased 25% from nearly 7 million b/d a decade ago.

The worsening OPEC equation presents Saudi Arabia with a difficult choice after its Algiers U-turn: carry a greater burden within the group, ceding market share to other producers, or lose credibility by softening the terms of the deal. In a worst-case scenario, Saudi Arabia will have to cut production by more than 1 million barrels a day, sending the kingdom’s output to a two-year low.

Global offshore oil production (including lease condensate and hydrocarbon gas liquids) in 2015 was at the highest level since 2010, and accounted for nearly 30% of total global oil production. Offshore oil production increased in both 2014 and 2015, reversing consecutive annual declines from 2010 to 2013. Production from onshore tight oil plays has increased faster over the past several years and accounts for an increasing amount of total oil production.

"We have built capacity of up to 2.4 million b/d, but [we are] currently producing about 1.9 million b/d," Omar Farouk, the special adviser on international energy relations to Nigeria's oil minister of state, said on the ministry's twitter handle.

A senior Iranian oil official here on Monday voiced Tehran readiness to join the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil freeze plan to help stabilize prices in international markets.

“We should be producing 9 million if it wasn’t for the wars,” said Falah Al Amri, the director general of state oil marketing company SOMO.

U.S. crude oil production declined 8.9 percent from year ago levels. However, at an average of 8.6 million barrels per day, domestic crude oil production in September increased by 0.8 percent from August–the first month over month increase in six months. Compared with year to date 2015, domestic crude oil production declined 6.1 percent. Compared to third quarter of 2015, crude oil production decreased 8.5 percent for the third quarter of 2016. September crude oil production was the third highest level for the month and the second highest year to date level in 31 years, since 1985.

The economic consequences of cheap oil have been severe for Saudi Arabia. Riyadh is burning through foreign-exchange reserves, government contractors have gone unpaid, and civil servants, who make up two-thirds of the labor force, will get no bonus this year. The country’s fiscal deficit is more than 10 percent of gross domestic product, the highest ratio of any Group of 20 nation. The International Monetary Fund forecasts that Saudi economic growth will slow to about 1 percent next year, the worst since 2009. A few banks predict a recession.