The world’s biggest energy user increased inbound shipments to 91.1 million metric tons in the first three months of the year, data from the Beijing-based General Administration of Customs showed on Wednesday. That’s equivalent to about 7.34 million barrels a day, 6 percent higher than the previous quarter and 13 percent up from the same period last year. Imports last month fell about 4 percent from February’s record to 7.71 million barrels a day, the third-highest ever.

“The oil price is growing. I think everyone is expecting the successful outcome of our work,” Mr Sechin said. “We will need higher price levels than $45 or even $50 a barrel.”

"Now we're seeing reductions in spending on shorter cycle projects, in other words immediate drilling activity," Watson said. "Rig rates in the US are down almost 80%, we're seeing decline in rig rates around the world and we're starting to see the supply response that everyone has expected. So we're seeing the markets come back into better balance [but] it may take more time."

"The level of $45-50 (per barrel) is acceptable from the point of view of market balance: if prices go higher shale oil production could start to recover."

Oil-producing countries can come to an agreement capping crude production at January levels even if Iran doesn’t join the move to help shore up prices.

Oil at $35 a barrel is neither too high nor too low but just right to make shares of U.S. explorers worth buying, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The cumulative effect suggests that for U.S. growth over the next three years, there's no difference between oil at $30 or $70 per barrel. How the trade balance responds to swings in crude will dictate which path is more desirable.

State-run Saudi Arabian Oil Co. increased its official selling price for May Light, Medium and Heavy sales to U.S. buyers by 40 cents a barrel, the company said in an e-mailed statement Tuesday. Extra Light crude will sell at a premium of $2.60 a barrel to the regional benchmark, 75 cents higher than the differential in April. For the U.S., the benchmark is the Argus Sour Crude Index.

Front month U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at $38.02 per barrel at 0653 GMT, up 76 cents, or 2 percent, from their last close. International Brent futures were up 60 cents at $40.03 a barrel.

Prices, which have swung between highs of about $42 a barrel and lows of about $27 this year, will continue to be volatile in the short term, Al Jaber said in an interview with Abu Dhabi dailies The National and Al Ittihad.

OPEC secondary sources put Iran's current output at 2.93 million barrels per day (bpd). It is working to regain market share, particularly in Europe, after the lifting of international sanctions in January. The sanctions had cut crude exports from a peak of 2.5 million bpd before 2011 to just over 1 million bpd in recent years.

The world’s biggest oil exporter lost ground to rivals in nine out of 15 top markets between 2013 and 2015, including China, South Africa and the US, according to an analysis of customs data.

Brent oil prices dropped below $40/bbl on the London market on Mar. 29 after news reports about the restart of production from Khafji oil field, which had been closed since October 2014. Kuwait Gulf Oil Co. and Saudi Aramco Gulf Operations Co. jointly operate the 300,000-b/d field. No restart date was given.

U.S. crude oil production from the Lower 48 states from new wells (drilled since the start of 2014) made up 48% of total U.S. crude oil production in 2015, up from 22% in 2007. Production from new wells has grown as advances in horizontal drilling and completion techniques led to growth in oil production from low-permeability tight reservoirs. In 2015, production from tight formations—which include, but are not limited to, shale plays—accounted for more than 4 million barrels per day (b/d), or 50% of total U.S. oil production.

The U.K. is the second-largest liquids producer in Europe (after Norway), producing one million b/d in 2015. This amount is large among European countries but small in the global market, and the U.K. remains a net importer of petroleum and other liquids. More than 97% of its liquids production in 2015 came from offshore fields, where petroleum development projects have long lead times. The majority of the offshore crude and condensate fields that began production in 2015 were approved in 2012 or earlier when oil prices were much higher.