Oil exploration and production activity is growing fast in southern Iraq.

Iraq awarded a three-year contract valued at US$640mn to Baker Hughes to drill 60 wells in Iraq's southern Zubair oilfield, government spokesman Al Al-Dabbagh said.

Iran says its crude production has dropped due to a lack of investments in its oilfields.

Exxon Mobil is looking into the possibility of taking over the UK's Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) in a deal that would value the group at US$10.9 billion. (Update)

The International Energy Agency's (IEA) monthly report for November saw its estimate for oil demand in Q4 2011 fall to 0.7mn bpd (down by 0.2mn bpd), but the watchdog left its forecast for 2012 unchanged at 1.3m bpd.