OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo forecast on Monday that stability would return to oil markets this year while price hawk Venezuela said it hoped its crude basket would rise to $70 in coming months.

Benchmark Brent crude oil LCOc1 was down 10 cents a barrel at $55.35 by 0915 GMT (04:15 a.m. ET) and U.S. light crude CLc1 fell 10 cents to $52.27.

Global oil prices will witness "much more volatility" in 2017 even though markets may rebalance in the first half of the year if output cuts pledged by producers are implemented.

Consumption is expected to rise 7-8% this year, outpacing China's demand growth for the third consecutive year.

The world could run short of oil by 2020 due to the recent sharp global downturn in upstream investment, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said Thursday.

Suhail Al Mazrouei said on Wednesday that Opec and non-Opec producers who have agreed to restrict their output over the next six months need to demonstrate that they are being implemented in order for their initiative to stabilise oil prices.

For every one dollar reduction in the price of oil, Russia suffers a staggering two billion dollar loss in its revenue. On top of the economic sanctions slapped on Russia following the annexation of Crimea, one may consider the record Russian oil production of 11.247 mbpd nothing short of a miracle.

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.

The end of the global commodity super-cycle, particularly the sharp drop in oil prices - Russia’s main export -caused the Russian economy to slip into recession, ushering in a period of difficult economic adjustment. Limited economic diversification and heavy reliance on oil have made Russia vulnerable to terms-of-trade shocks.

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.

Russia and 10 other non-OPEC nations joined forces with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries on Dec. 10 to end a global glut that’s crashed oil prices and shaken energy-rich economies. The pact — the first between the two sides in 15 years — involves a reduction of 558,000 barrels a day from non-OPEC countries starting in January.

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.

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