“We’re looking to raise about $40 to $50 billion,” Kachikwu said in the Bloomberg interview. “Going to places like China, which have a huge capacity to put money in the oil sector, is very helpful.”

Brent crude futures were down 15 cents at $48.26 a barrel by 0238 GMT on Monday, after settling down $2.50, or 4.9 percent, at $48.41 on Friday. U.S. crude was down 25 cents at $47.39 a barrel, after closing down $2.47, or 4.9 percent, on Friday.

U.S. crude was down $2.77 at $47.34 a barrel at around 0314 GMT. Brent crude was down $2.75 at $48.16 a barrel.

"We have seen a large amount of short positions being closed while long positions have been opened," Novak said in reference to speculative bets - shorts - in the market that prices will fall, and the opposite - longs - that they will rise.

"We are glad that we've managed to maintain our positions on traditional markets, primarily in Europe," Sechin said pointing out to recent agreements with PKN Orlen to increase deliveries to Poland and the Czech Republic.

Supply and demand for oil are coming back into balance, and the response of shale producers to rising prices will help determine how high crude can go, Christof Ruehl, the global head of research at Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, said Wednesday in an interview in Dubai. Ruehl’s view that the re-balancing will take until at least the middle of 2017 contrasts with the more optimistic outlook of some industry leaders and analysts who foresee demand nearing supply by the end of this year.

"The Kingdom's oil policies are rooted in responsibility, and Saudi Arabia is seeking to maintain that balance while also giving heed to moderate prices for producers and consumers,"

With income falling, the 13 members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) posted a combined current account deficit of $99.60 billion in 2015, compared with a surplus of $238.10 billion in 2014.

Brent crude futures were up 4 cents at $50.66 a barrel, after settling down 3 cents at $50.62 on Tuesday.

"We believe that the (function of) regulation has moved to three main players, which are the United States, Saudi Arabia and Russia," he said.

The Ugandan and Tanzanian governments are trying to fast-track a $4 billion oil pipeline that would connect landlocked Uganda to foreign markets even though construction won’t start in August as they originally indicated.

The U.S. crude benchmark rose 2.9% to settle at $49.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while the global Brent contract gained 3% to end at $50.65 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe. Both contracts were rebounding after a six-day losing streak.

The California-based fund manager, which is among the largest shareholders of natural resources groups including BP Plc, Total SA, Glencore Plc and Chevron Corp. through dozens of funds, believes that $50 a barrel isn’t high enough to stimulate the increase in supply needed to meet future oil demand.

Rosneft and Consortium of Indian Companies led by Oil India Limited along with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. and Bharat PetroResources have signed the agreement of sale and purchase of 23.9% in Vankorneft and the shareholders agreement at the XX St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

"Рыночные инструменты работают. Общее недоинвестирование — порядка 550 миллиардов долларов за последние 3 года. Это огромный уход инвестиций. Мы видим даже риски того, что через несколько лет возникнет недостаток нефти из-за недоинвестирования и растущего спроса", - отметил Министр энергетики.