U.S. Rig Count is down 271 rigs from last year's count of 795, with oil rigs down 177, gas rigs down 95, and miscellaneous rigs up 1. Canadian Rig Count is down 15 rigs from last year's count of 180, with oil rigs up 13, and gas rigs down 28.

Last week, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to cut between 200,000 barrels a day and 700,000 barrels a day of their output to reduce a global oil glut. The 14-nation oil-producing group controls over a third of the world’s oil production, but said it also wanted non-OPEC producers to join the effort to curb output.

Britain is estimated to have substantial amounts of shale gas trapped in underground rocks and the government wants to exploit it to help offset declining North Sea oil and gas output. It said the shale gas industry could create 64,000 jobs and help economic growth.

The court judgment released on Wednesday found that the companies owed nearly 484 billion CFA francs in royalties to the Chadian government. It did not explain why the penalties amounted to more than 90 times that amount.

If Nigeria and Libya restore production, the kingdom may need to cut twice as much. U.S. shale drillers also stand ready to fill any supply gap.

The closed transaction is a symbolic one for the companies and marks the transition to a new level of cooperation in the Russian-Indian relations in the energy area. Indian companies obtain substantial interest in one of the biggest large-scale projects of Rosneft of the last decade, whereas Rosneft retains 61.1% shares in the project.

Rosneft and Pertamina signed an Agreement envisaging the creation of a Joint Venture (JV) with the scope of implementing the project for the construction of the Tuban refining and petrochemical complex to be located in the eastern part of Java (Indonesia).

Paolo Scaroni, the former chief executive of Italy’s Eni SpA, said Iran is able to pump as much as 4.1 million to 4.2 million barrels daily.

Managing director of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Ali Kardor said Iran will not cease to achieve the targeted crude oil output of 4 million barrels per day.

U.S. Rig Count is down 287 rigs from last year's count of 809, with oil rigs down 189, gas rigs down 99, and miscellaneous rigs up 1. Canadian Rig Count is down 17 rigs from last year's count of 179, with oil rigs up 14, and gas rigs down 31.

«Инструменты влияния на добычу могут быть разные, поэтому мы будем рассматривать окончательные предложения. Все будет зависеть и от макроэкономической ситуации и от планов компаний, но мы ориентируемся на сохранение объемов добычи на достигнутом уровне», – рассказал Александр Новак.

Demand for land rigs will rise 29 percent next year to 579, the S&P Global Platts unit said in a report released at the Benposium East conference in New York on Wednesday. Platts RigData forecasts average West Texas Intermediate crude prices to climb 23 percent to $52.18 a barrel in 2017. The Henry Hub natural gas benchmark is seen increasing 26 percent to $3.05 per million British thermal units.

Europe sees Israel and the region as an important supplier of gas to Europe

"The UK continental shelf is in urgent need of fresh investment to boost exploration and drive activity, particularly for the supply chain," Oil and Gas UK chief executive Deirdre Michie said, going on to call for additional government efforts to encourage investment.

"OPEC made an exceptional decision today ... After two and a half years, OPEC reached consensus to manage the market," said Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh, who had repeatedly clashed with Saudi Arabia during previous meetings.