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.

Russia produced over 650bn m³ of gas in 2016, about 0.6% more than the previous year, the statistics of the Central Dispatching Department of Fuel Energy Complex (CDU TEK) indicate. A Russian cubic metre of gas contains about 10% less energy than a standard cubic metre owing to the higher temperature it is measured at.

U.S. Rig Count is down 40 rigs from last year's count of 698, with oil rigs down 11, gas rigs down 30, and miscellaneous rigs up 1. Canadian Rig Count is up 74 rigs from last year's count of 83, with oil rigs up 40, gas rigs up 29, and miscellaneous rigs up 5.

В 2017 году цена на нефть будет в диапазоне 55 - долларов за баррель.

U.S. benchmark West Texas intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 23 cents to $54.00 at 0746 GMT. Brent front-month March crude oil futures rose 31 cents to $57.16.

U.S. light crude was down 20 cents at $53.86 by 0930 GMT (4:30 a.m. ET), while North Sea Brent crude was up 5 cents at $56.27 a barrel.

The analysts predicting that Brent will average $58 a barrel next year expect $53 in the first quarter and $56 in the second. West Texas Intermediate will be about $1.40 cheaper than Brent in 2017, the estimates show. WTI settled at $53.90 in New York on Tuesday.

China aims to raise the ratio of non-fossil fuel consumption to 14.3 percent in 2017, while cutting the ratio of coal to 60 percent.

If oil passes $70 a barrel, the U.S. could start pumping out an extra million barrels a day, offsetting much of the planned cut from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, according to a Citigroup Inc. analysis.

U.S. shale drillers are set to ramp up spending on exploration and production next year as recovering oil prices prompt banks to extend credit lines for the first time in two years.

International Brent LCOc1 crude futures were trading down 7 cents, or 0.12 percent, at $56.02 a barrel at 0722 GMT (2.22 a.m. ET) after closing the previous session up 93 cents. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices CLc1 were down 8 cents at $53.82 per barrel after settling up 88 cents at $53.90 a barrel in the previous session.

The company has already made contractual changes that remove restrictions on reselling gas and that require Gazprom to forgo any advantage gained from making gas supplies conditional on acceptance of gas pipelines. These changes came about because of pressure from the commission and increased competition on the European energy market.

The most important challenge facing Iran and all the Iranian technical and professional elite is high recovery of coefficient, he said, adding that raising the recovery coefficient by one percent will result in 700 billion barrels or let's say seven billion barrels; seven billion barrels with an oil sold for 50 dollars per barrel means 350 billion dollars more wealth for the country.

Venezuela said on Tuesday it will cut 95,000 barrels-per-day of oil production in the New Year in fulfilment of a producers' deal to reduce global output and strengthen prices.

London Brent crude for February delivery LCOc1 was down 1 cents at $55.15 a barrel by 0335 GMT (10.35 p.m. ET) after settling up 11 cents on Friday. Oil markets were closed on Monday after Christmas at the weekend. NYMEX crude for February delivery CLc1 was up 10 cents at $53.12 a barrel, after closing at a 17-month high on Friday.