Brent crude LCOc1 was up 50 cents at $55.60 a barrel by 1050 GMT (5:50 a.m. ET). U.S. crude CLc1 was up 35 cents at $52.60.

Prices for Brent futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were trading at $53.73 per barrel at 0508 GMT, up 9 cents from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $50.97 a barrel, up 15 cents.

Brent crude oil prices are forecast to average $53/b in 2017 and $56/b in 2018. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices are forecast to average $1/b less than Brent in both 2017 and 2018.

Средняя цена нефти марки Urals в 2016 году составила $41,9 за баррель.

Iraq plans to raise crude exports from its southern port of Basra to an all-time high in February, keeping exports high even as OPEC production cuts take effect this month.

Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, were trading at $56.84 per barrel at 0535 GMT (00.35 a.m. ET), down 26 cents from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures CLc1 were trading at $53.70 per barrel, down 29 cents.

Saudi Arabia has cut its crude-oil production by at least 486,000 barrels a day since October, said a person familiar with the kingdom’s output, bringing the world’s largest exporter of petroleum swiftly into line with OPEC’s deal to raise prices.

Russia cut its oil production in early January by around 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the previous month after an agreement with OPEC to cap global crude output, two sources from the energy sector told Reuters on Monday.

Benchmark Brent crude oil LCOc1 was up 50 cents a barrel at $56.96 by 1440 GMT (9:40 a.m. ET). U.S. light crude CLc1 was up 45 cents a barrel at $53.71. Both contracts rose by around 2 percent on Wednesday.

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.

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

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.

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 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.