Britain's finance minister George Osborne will cut taxes by 1 billion pounds ($1.41 billion) over five years for energy companies pumping oil from the country's North Sea fields, in a boost for an industry suffering low crude prices.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 2.2% to $41.23 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate futures were trading up 2.7% at $39.50 a barrel.

U.S. companies are welcome to invest in Iran's oil and gas industry, the Iranian oil minister said.

This is American energy security, American jobs, U.S. government revenue and American GDP tied up by political red tape. This is a once in a generation opportunity, stuck, off limits to future generations as it waits for forward-looking energy policy.

Oil prices have rallied by almost 50 per cent since dropping below $30 a barrel in January, tempting producers to grab any price that will allow them to keep operating through the worst commodity crash in more than 20 years.

U.S. Rig Count is down 9 rigs from last week to 480, with oil rigs down 6 to 386, and gas rigs down 3 to 94. Canadian Rig Count is down 31 rigs from last week to 98, with oil rigs down 22 to 28, and gas rigs down 9 to 70.

Net Benefits of Prolonged Drop in Oil Prices Diminish or Turn Negative for Some Sectors.

“We need contracts, tenders and technology,” he said, describing Iran as a “garden” in need of nourishment. “Money for the Iranian economy is like water.”

Government said on Thursday it hoped to unlock gas and oil resources worth almost $40 billion by simplifying licensing rules and offering price incentives to recover gas from difficult offshore fields.

The data was revealed with the release of the Government Expenditure & Revenue Scotland (GERS) on March 9. According to that data, North Sea oil and gas revenue fell by 55% between the fiscal years 2013-2014 and 2014-2015. The revenue for 2014-2015 was just £2.25bn, less than half of the £4.8bn recorded in 2013-2014, and less than a quarter of the £10.9bn recorded in 2011-12.