Iran, which holds the world’s largest gas reserves, was aiming to double its gas production in the next 30 months and to raise its share of global cross-border gas trade from a minuscule one per cent at present to ten per cent at some unspecified future date. In production terms, this means increasing output from 172.6 bcm in 2014 (five per cent of the total world output) to around 350 bcm in 2018-19.

The changes come at a difficult time for the Saudi kingdom, which is still adjusting to last year's leadership transition while also facing pressure from regional rivals like Iran.

“While the UK offshore oil and gas industry is having to adapt to the low oil price and driving greater efficiencies throughout its operations the fact is that the value of our product has more than halved," she said. "Times are really tough for this industry and for the people working in it. We will continue to see job losses as we move into 2016 and we must be thoughtful and supportive of our colleagues and their families who are being made redundant or who are at risk of being made redundant."

U.S. Rig Count is down 2 rigs from last week to 698, with oil rigs down 2 to 536, and gas rigs are unchanged from last week, at 162.