“He led the company with integrity and honor, ensuring that safety and environmental protection were at the forefront of everything we do, generating value for shareholders and highlighting the impressive accomplishments of the company’s diverse workforce throughout the world. We know that his service to the nation as secretary of state will be equally successful and distinguished.”

Iraq plans to increase crude-oil exports in January, government records show, immediately raising questions about its commitment to slashing production in line with OPEC’s landmark production agreement last month.

Operations have restarted at two key oil fields and a connected pipeline in Western Libya that have been shut down for over two years, Libyan officials said, following an agreement with local tribes.

Oil production companies recorded positive earnings from their upstream (exploration and production) operations in the third quarter of 2016 for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2014.

Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Rainer Seele, Chairman of the OMV Executive Board, signed the Basic Agreement regarding the asset swap. The signing ceremony took place in the presence of Hans Jörg Schelling, Minister of Finance of the Republic of Austria, and Anatoly Yanovsky, Deputy Minister of Energy of Russia.

Rosneft and the China National Petrochemical Company (ChemChina) signed a Heads of Agreement on establishing a Joint Venture. The document was signed by Rosneft Chief Executive Officer Igor Sechin, and General Manager of ChemChina Yang Xingqiang.

Oil, gas and petrochemistry are major topics of economic discussions between Iranian and Indonesian officials during the Indonesian president visit to Iran.

International Brent crude futures were down 58 cents at $55.14 per barrel at 1054 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were down 61 cents at $52.37 a barrel.

Gazprom joins Lukoil PJSC and Zarubrezhneft OAO in Russia, Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said in Tehran at the signing ceremony. Salbali Karimi, managing director of the Iranian Central Oil Fields Co., and Alexander Dyukov, chairman of the management board and chief executive officer of Gazprom Neft, signed the memorandum of understanding.

Iran's crude oil exports in December are set to fall 8 percent from November to a five-month low, a source with knowledge of its preliminary tanker schedule said, as lower shipments to China and others in Asia offset bumper exports to Europe.

President-elect Donald Trump named the head of Exxon Mobil Corp, Rex Tillerson, as his choice for U.S. secretary of state on Tuesday and won backing from some Republican foreign policy figures ahead of a possible Senate fight over the oilman's ties to Russia.

Located in waters up to 500-metres deep, Malikai is Shell’s second deep-water project in Malaysia, following the successful start-up of the Gumusut-Kakap platform in 2014. Malikai is expected to have a peak production of 60,000 barrels per day. As the company’s first TLP in the country, Malikai is an example of the strength of Shell’s global deep-water business, applying TLP expertise from decades of operations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

December 2016 U.S. oil production will down 20 tbd, gas production will down 94 mcfd.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 4.27% to $56.67 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate futures were trading up 4.80% at $53.95 a barrel.

The first global crude supply pact in 15 years has underlined the growing energy alliance between Saudi Arabia and Russia, as the depth of the two-year oil slump forces co-operation between once unlikely partners.