Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has relinquished its two frontier exploration permits in the Pegasus basin offshore the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island. Source: News

US commercial crude oil inventories, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, declined 2.6 million bbl during the week ended Dec. 9 compared with the previous week’s total, according to the US Energy Information Administration’s Petroleum Status Report. Source: News

Continental Resources Inc. flowed 4,6642 boe/d (45% oil) in its 24-hr test of the Angus Trust 1-4-33XH well, which is immediately north of the Boden 1-15-10XH well in south-central Blaine County, Okla.   Source: News

Crude oil benchmark prices gained modestly on the New York market to settle Dec. 13 at nearly $53/bbl. Traders said trading was choppy late in the trading session for 2 consecutive days, suggesting market participants have turned their attention from world production levels to US oil inventories. Source: News

Austria’s OMV AG and Russia’s OAO Gazprom have signed a basic agreement for an asset swap. Source: News

Atlantic LNG (ALNG) is unlikely to benefit from the natural gas supply agreement signed last week between Venezuela and neighboring Trinidad and Tobago. Source: News

The review and possible modification of the North American Free Trade Agreement that Donald J. Trump promised in his presidential campaign would not target US companies’ ventures in the region and in Latin America that are working well, a Trump transition team member said. Source: News