If oil passes $70 a barrel, the U.S. could start pumping out an extra million barrels a day, offsetting much of the planned cut from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, according to a Citigroup Inc. analysis.

The analysts predicting that Brent will average $58 a barrel next year expect $53 in the first quarter and $56 in the second. West Texas Intermediate will be about $1.40 cheaper than Brent in 2017, the estimates show. WTI settled at $53.90 in New York on Tuesday.

China aims to raise the ratio of non-fossil fuel consumption to 14.3 percent in 2017, while cutting the ratio of coal to 60 percent.

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.

U.S. benchmark West Texas intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 23 cents to $54.00 at 0746 GMT. Brent front-month March crude oil futures rose 31 cents to $57.16.

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

U.S. Rig Count is down 40 rigs from last year's count of 698, with oil rigs down 11, gas rigs down 30, and miscellaneous rigs up 1. Canadian Rig Count is up 74 rigs from last year's count of 83, with oil rigs up 40, gas rigs up 29, and miscellaneous rigs up 5.

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.

Russia produced over 650bn m³ of gas in 2016, about 0.6% more than the previous year, the statistics of the Central Dispatching Department of Fuel Energy Complex (CDU TEK) indicate. A Russian cubic metre of gas contains about 10% less energy than a standard cubic metre owing to the higher temperature it is measured at.

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.

U.S. Rig Count is up 1 rig from last year's count of 664, with oil rigs up 13, gas rigs down 13, and miscellaneous rigs up 1. Canadian Rig Count is up 39 rigs from last year's count of 166, with oil rigs up 10, gas rigs up 28, and miscellaneous rigs up 1.

The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce, announced today that the goods and services deficit was $45.2 billion in November, up $2.9 billion from $42.4 billion in October, revised. November exports were $185.8 billion, $0.4 billion less than October exports. November imports were $231.1 billion, $2.4 billion more than October imports.

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 officials are seeking to transform Saudi Aramco into the world’s most valuable publicly traded company, which they say is worth about $2tn.

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.

The LNG market has grown strongly in the last few years. In 2008 the global export capacity was 270bn m³/yr while in 2016 it was around 400bn m³/yr (+150%). The International Energy Agency in 2011 predicted that by 2015 gobal trade would reach 450bn m³/yr. These higher expectations resulted mainly from the aftermath of the Fukushima accident and Asian growth more generally, notably China.

Baker Hughes Incorporated (NYSE:BHI) announced today that the international rig count for December 2016 was 929, up 4 from the 925 counted in November 2016, and down 166 from the 1,095 counted in December 2015. The international offshore rig count for December 2016 was 210, down 1 from the 211 counted in November 2016, and down 40 from the 250 counted in December 2015.

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.

Senior U.S. Republican and Democratic senators will introduce legislation on Tuesday seeking to impose a wide range of sanctions on Russia over its cyber activities and actions in Syria and Ukraine.

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.