The US drilling rig count dropped 7 units to 737 during the week ended Dec. 4, marking its lowest point since Oct. 15, 1999.

U.S. oilfield equipment maker National Oilwell Varco Inc will cut its Norwegian workforce by another 900 people after low oil prices resulted in fewer orders, the company said on Monday.

The January contract for light, sweet crude settled below $40/bbl on the New York market Dec. 4 after members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries acknowledged they would accommodate current production, which is more than 1 million b/d over the quota.

Having reviewed the oil market outlook for 2015, and the projections for 2016, the Conference observed that global economic growth is currently at 3.1% in 2015 and is forecast to expand by 3.4% next year. In terms of supply and demand, it was noted that non-OPEC supply is expected to contract in 2016, while global demand is anticipated to expand again by 1.3 mb/d.

Low oil prices have hurt manufacturers that supply and service the sector

U.S. Rig Count is down 7 rigs from last week to 737, with oil rigs down 10 to 545, and gas rigs up 3 to 192.

China will add 70-90 million barrels of crude to storage tanks in 2016 to build up its strategic petroleum reserves (SPR).

Sinopec Corp (0386.HK), Asia's largest refiner, and Chinese state trader Zhuhai Zhenrong Corp will together lift around 505,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude from Iran in 2016, the same as this year when they took roughly half of the Islamic Republic's total exports, the sources said.

“I trust Saudi Arabia will act responsibly in line with its reputation," Birol, who worked for OPEC before joining the IEA 20 years ago, told Reuters on the sidelines of a the global climate change summit in Paris.

Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, has fallen 40 per cent over the past year, decimating the budgets of Opec’s weaker members like Angola and Venezuela. The price crash has slowed the growth of US shale, Canada’s tar sands and other sources of high-cost oil but the market remains oversupplied by at least 1m barrels a day.