Russia has also benefited this year from oil's price stabilization and a recent deal between major crude producers to curb output has raised expectations of higher prices next year. The central bank has a medium-term oil price forecast of $40 a barrel.

Brent crude oil futures LCOc1, the global benchmark used to trade oil, soared to its highest since July 6, 2015 to $55.20 a barrel. It last traded at $55.08 a barrel, up 62 cents, or 1.1 percent, at 0946 GMT. WTI crude oil CLc1 traded up 54 cents, or 1 percent, at $52.22 a barrel.

Средняя цена нефти марки Urals по итогам января-ноября 2016 года составила $41,02 за баррель.

Front-month Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down 45 cents, or 0.8 percent by 0951 GMT (4:51 a.m. ET) from their last settlement at $53.49 per barrel. The contract was up more than 13 percent this week, its biggest gain since March 2009. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures CLc1 were at $50.68, down 38 cents.

Shares in US oil companies soared on Wednesday as Opec ministers meeting in Vienna agreed a plan to cut output by 1.2m barrels per day. “The biggest beneficiaries from this Opec move are the US shale players,” said Mike Kelly, head of exploration and production company research at Seaport Global Securities.

Oil prices slipped on Friday as some investors opted to cash out after Brent touched 16-month a high on Thursday, with optimism over this week's OPEC-Russia accord on cutting output giving way to questions on the "sticking point" of implementing the deal.

U.S. crude oil CLc1 added to overnight gains of 9 percent to reach $50.00 a barrel for the first time since October. Brent crude LCOc1, which soared $4 overnight, touched a six-week peak of $52.73 a barrel.

Brent crude, the international oil marker, rose more than $3.00, or 7.2 per cent, to $49.73 in the late morning in London.

The expected fiscal consolidation and the subdued nature of the recovery are putting in place the conditions for the central bank to resume, in due course, monetary policy easing in a manner consistent with the 4 percent inflation target. However, the pace of easing should take into account the presence of external risks and the need to build credibility under the newly introduced inflation targeting regime.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 fell as far as 2 percent before clawing back to trade up 29 cents at $47.44 per barrel at 1008 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 also recouped early losses and were trading up 15 cents at $46.21 per barrel.

“We expect demand to recover in 2017, then prices will stabilize, and this will happen without an intervention from OPEC,” Al-Falih said in Dhahran, eastern Saudi Arabia, on Sunday, according to the Saudi newspaper Asharq al-Awsat. “We don’t have a single path which is to cut production at the OPEC meeting, we can also depend on recovery in consumption, especially from the U.S.”

"The general trend and public statements suggest that OPEC can reach a viable agreement for its production and market management." "If we can agree, and I am optimistic, (oil) prices will increase and this is also what the world economy demands."

"Libya is in such a dangerous economic situation, there is no way it can participate in OPEC production cuts for the foreseeable future," NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanalla told delegates at the Arab-Austrian Economic Forum in Vienna on Friday, according to an NOC statement.

“Security and access to funding are the biggest challenges right now to private sector players,” says Kola Karim, managing director of domestic producer Shoreline Energy. “The situation is really tough.”

At 1040 GMT (5:40 a.m. ET), Brent crude futures LCOc1 were trading at $48.89, down 6 cents from their close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was down 2 cents at $47.94 per barrel.