U.S. oil production will up 41 tbd, gas production will up 330 mcfd.

Preliminary production figures for December 2016 show an average daily production of 2 094 000 barrels of oil, NGL and condensate, which is a decrease of 60 000 barrels per day (approx. 3 percent) compared to November.

Brent for March settlement rose 27 cents to $55.72 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract fell 56 cents, or 1 percent, to $55.45 a barrel on Friday. Prices slid 2.9 percent last week, the biggest drop since November. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of $2.32 to March WTI.

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.

Benchmark Brent crude oil LCOc1 was down 10 cents a barrel at $55.35 by 0915 GMT (04:15 a.m. ET) and U.S. light crude CLc1 fell 10 cents to $52.27.

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.

U.S. Rig Count is up 9 rigs from last year's count of 650, with oil rigs up 7, gas rigs up 1, and miscellaneous rigs up 1. Canadian Rig Count is up 88 rigs from last year's count of 227, with oil rigs up 60, gas rigs up 27, and miscellaneous rigs up 1.

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.

For every one dollar reduction in the price of oil, Russia suffers a staggering two billion dollar loss in its revenue. On top of the economic sanctions slapped on Russia following the annexation of Crimea, one may consider the record Russian oil production of 11.247 mbpd nothing short of a miracle.

Brent crude LCOc1 was up 50 cents at $55.60 a barrel by 1050 GMT (5:50 a.m. ET). U.S. crude CLc1 was up 35 cents at $52.60.

The outlook is clouded by uncertainty about policy direction in major economies. A protracted period of uncertainty could prolong the slow growth in investment that is holding back low, middle, and high income countries.

The end of the global commodity super-cycle, particularly the sharp drop in oil prices - Russia’s main export -caused the Russian economy to slip into recession, ushering in a period of difficult economic adjustment. Limited economic diversification and heavy reliance on oil have made Russia vulnerable to terms-of-trade shocks.

Prices for Brent futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were trading at $53.73 per barrel at 0508 GMT, up 9 cents from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $50.97 a barrel, up 15 cents.

Brent crude oil prices are forecast to average $53/b in 2017 and $56/b in 2018. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices are forecast to average $1/b less than Brent in both 2017 and 2018.