U.S. Rig Count is down 218 rigs from last year's count of 775, with oil rigs down 137, gas rigs down 83, and miscellaneous rigs up 2. Canadian Rig Count is down 38 rigs from last year's count of 191, with oil rigs down 11, gas rigs down 28, and miscellaneous rigs up 1.

Brent crude LCOc1 was up 22 cents at $50.20 a barrel as of 0845 GMT (4:45 a.m. ET), after falling in the last three days. U.S. crude gained 10 cents to $49.28.

The North American market has continued to "grind slowly upwards" as the rig count, particularly in the US, ticks ahead from troughs seen six months ago, Martin Craighead said during a quarterly conference call with analysts. But "customers need to be more confident of the durability of those prices before making any significant change to their spending patterns," Craighead said.

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.

Revenues for the third quarter of 2016 were $1.65 billion, a decrease of five percent compared to the second quarter of 2016 and a decrease of 50 percent from the third quarter of 2015. Operating loss for the third quarter was $1.19 billion, or 72.1 percent of sales. Excluding other items, operating loss was $108 million, or 6.6 percent of sales. Adjusted EBITDA (operating profit excluding other items before depreciation and amortization) for the third quarter was $68 million, or 4.1 percent of sales, an increase of $43 million from the second quarter of 2016.

Net operating income was USD 737 million in the third quarter compared to USD 883 million in the same period of 2015. The reduction was primarily due to lower oil and gas prices, expensed exploration wells and lower refinery margins. Continued progress on the improvement programme with reduced costs and strong operational performance contributing positively to the results.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down 51 cents, or 1 percent, at $50.28 a barrel as of 0648 GMT. Prices hit $50.13 earlier in the session, the lowest since Oct. 3. U.S. crude CLc1 was at $49.37 per barrel, down 59 cents, or 1.2 percent, from its settlement on Tuesday. It dropped to $49.21 earlier, the lowest since Oct. 10.

Big companies responded with big cuts. BP, Eni and their peers cut exploration spending by 35% in 2015 compared with 2013, Wood Mackenzie’s data show. Many projects now focus on lower-risk, lower-reward prospects as companies hope for incremental gains near existing infrastructure that they can bring online quickly and cheaply.

Russia is the world's largest producer of crude oil (including lease condensate) and the second-largest producer of dry natural gas. Russia also produces significant amounts of coal. Russia's economy is highly dependent on its hydrocarbons, and oil and natural gas revenues account for more than 40% of the federal budget revenues.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) and Russian petroleum authorities (Federal Subsoil Resources Management Agency, Rosnedra) have entered into an agreement to exchange seismic data from the areas around the demarcation line in the Barents Sea.