PLATTS - Iraq is nearing a production capacity of 5 million b/d, though it will comply with its quota under the OPEC production cut agreement, oil minister Jabbar al-Luaibi said.

REUTERS - Venezuela’s oil production has increased to near 1.9 million barrels per day (bpd) after hitting a historic low last year, according to Manuel Quevedo, oil minister and head of state oil firm PDVSA, who vowed 2018 will see output rise to more than 2.4 million bpd.

BHGE - U.S. Rig Count is up 15 rigs from last week to 939, with oil rigs up 10 to 752, gas rigs up 5 to 187, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged. Canada Rig Count is up 102 rigs from last week to 276, with oil rigs up 87 to 185 and gas rigs up 15 to 91.

NPD - The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate’s production forecast up to 2022 shows an increase from 2020, when Johan Sverdrup has come on stream. Total production of oil and gas in 2022 is estimated to be close to the record‐breaking year 2004. Gas will then account for about one‐half of the production.

PLATTS - Venezuelan crude output plummeted in December to 1.70 million b/d, according to the latest S&P Global Platts OPEC survey released Monday.

BAKER HUGHES A GE - The worldwide rig count for December 2017 was 2,089, up 32 from the 2,057 counted in November 2017, and up 317 from the 1,772 counted in December 2016.

FT - The growth of Royal Dutch Shell’s oil and gas operations in the next decade will depend on shale production, its chief executive has said, in the latest sign of western energy groups pinning their hopes for expansion on those “unconventional” resources.

U.S. Rig Count is down 5 rigs from last week to 924, with oil rigs down 5 to 742, gas rigs unchanged at 182, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged. Canada Rig Count is up 38 rigs from last week to 174, with oil rigs up 36 to 98 and gas rigs up 2 to 76.

BLOOMBERG - Norway’s oil production has been halved since a 2000 peak. While natural-gas output has surged, total production is forecast to fall again in the middle of the next decade. A flurry of investment decisions at the end of last year hides a painful truth: after Statoil’s $6 billion Johan Castberg oil field starts production in the Barents in 2022, the project pipeline is scant.

U.S. Rig Count is down 2 rigs from last week to 929, with oil rigs unchanged at 747, gas rigs down 2 to 182, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged. Canada Rig Count is down 74 rigs from last week to 136, with oil rigs down 58 to 62 and gas rigs down 16 to 74.

PLATTS - The issuance of a combined 2.8 million b/d cap on formerly exempt members Libya and Nigeria at the organization's November 30 meeting means that OPEC as a whole now has a notional collective ceiling of 32.74 million b/d, when all the members' quotas are added up. From January-November, compliance was 108% according to S&P Global Platts, one of the six secondary sources used by the organization to monitor output.

ROSNEFT - Rosneft has spudded the Maria-1 exploration well offshore in the Black Sea. Forecasted oil in place for Zapadno-Chernomorskaya licence area is estimated to exceed 570 million tons.

ROSNEFT - Rosneft and BP have agreed to develop subsoil resources within the Kharampurskoe and Festivalnoye licence areas of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug in northern Russia, with total geological reserves exceeding 880 bcm of gas.

U.S. Rig Count is up 1 rig from last week to 931, with oil rigs unchanged at 747, gas rigs up 1 to 184, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged. Canada Rig Count is down 28 rigs from last week to 210, with oil rigs down 14 to 120 and gas rigs down 14 to 90.

FT - Mr Fridman would acquire an interest in the Wingate gas platform off the east coast of England as part of a proposed merger between DEA, an energy company he controls, and Wintershall of Germany, which operates the UK field.