OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo forecast on Monday that stability would return to oil markets this year while price hawk Venezuela said it hoped its crude basket would rise to $70 in coming months.

China’s oil production is forecast to fall by as much as 7 percent this year, extending a record decline in 2016.

Global oil prices will witness "much more volatility" in 2017 even though markets may rebalance in the first half of the year if output cuts pledged by producers are implemented.

The world could run short of oil by 2020 due to the recent sharp global downturn in upstream investment, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said Thursday.

Suhail Al Mazrouei said on Wednesday that Opec and non-Opec producers who have agreed to restrict their output over the next six months need to demonstrate that they are being implemented in order for their initiative to stabilise oil prices.

SHARES of China National Petroleum Corp and Sinopec rebounded during the week on reforms that are set to transform the two oil and gas giants into more competitive and market-focused entities.

Russia and 10 other non-OPEC nations joined forces with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries on Dec. 10 to end a global glut that’s crashed oil prices and shaken energy-rich economies. The pact — the first between the two sides in 15 years — involves a reduction of 558,000 barrels a day from non-OPEC countries starting in January.

Saudi Arabia has cut its crude-oil production by at least 486,000 barrels a day since October, said a person familiar with the kingdom’s output, bringing the world’s largest exporter of petroleum swiftly into line with OPEC’s deal to raise prices.

Russia cut its oil production in early January by around 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the previous month after an agreement with OPEC to cap global crude output, two sources from the energy sector told Reuters on Monday.

The decline in December comes as OPEC, which controls around 40 percent of global supply, is planning to curb output in a bid to boost oil prices. The organization reached a historic deal last month with Russia and other non-members to cut global production by almost 1.8 million barrels a day starting this month.