The balance between demand and supply in the oil market will shift earlier than previously expected due to OPEC's output cuts, with prices heading towards $60 a barrel next year, Statoil's chief executive said on Tuesday. Brent crude futures LCOc1 hit $55 a barrel on Monday, the highest level since July 2015, after OPEC agreed on Dec. 1 to curb production by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) from January.

The worldwide rig count for November 2016 was 1,678, up 58 from the 1,620 counted in October 2016, and down 369 from the 2,047 counted in November 2015.

International Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 were trading at $54.83 per barrel at 1127 GMT, down 11 cents from Monday's close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $51.50 a barrel, down 29 cents.

Russia has also benefited this year from oil's price stabilization and a recent deal between major crude producers to curb output has raised expectations of higher prices next year. The central bank has a medium-term oil price forecast of $40 a barrel.

Indonesian companies are interested to join upstream projects in Iran's oil industry in fields like Ab Teymour and Mansouri oilfields, said Chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) of Indonesia Zulkifli Hasan.

The auction of the deepwater blocks, four in the Perdido Fold belt near the US side of the Gulf and six in the unexplored Salina basin further south, marked the culmination of the first round of auctions since Mexico enacted a sweeping reform to open a sector closed to private exploration and production for nearly 80 years.

Brent crude oil futures LCOc1, the global benchmark used to trade oil, soared to its highest since July 6, 2015 to $55.20 a barrel. It last traded at $55.08 a barrel, up 62 cents, or 1.1 percent, at 0946 GMT. WTI crude oil CLc1 traded up 54 cents, or 1 percent, at $52.22 a barrel.

U.S. Rig Count is down 140 rigs from last year's count of 737, with oil rigs down 68, gas rigs down 73, and miscellaneous rigs up 1. Canadian Rig Count is up 23 rigs from last year's count of 177, with oil rigs up 23, gas rigs down 2, and miscellaneous rigs up 2.

Front-month Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down 45 cents, or 0.8 percent by 0951 GMT (4:51 a.m. ET) from their last settlement at $53.49 per barrel. The contract was up more than 13 percent this week, its biggest gain since March 2009. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures CLc1 were at $50.68, down 38 cents.

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.