as Canadian heavy crude production recovered from earlier planned and unplanned outages, while light sweet crude prices in the U.S. were supported by reductions in the rig count and slowing domestic production growth. Outside of North

America, high refinery runs in Europe and Asia supported pricing for light sweet crude from the Atlantic Basin, while increased output from Iraq and other Middle East producers pressured values of heavier, more sour crudes.

Chevron produces or shares in the production of heavy crude oil in California, Indonesia, the Partitioned Zone between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Venezuela and in certain fields in Angola, China and the United Kingdom sector of the North Sea. (See page FS-11 for the company’s average U.S. and international crude oil realizations.)

In contrast to price movements in the global market for crude oil, price changes for natural gas in many regional markets are more closely aligned with supply-and-demand conditions in those markets. Fluctuations in the price of natural gas in the United States are closely associated with customer demand relative to the volumes produced and stored in North America. In the United States, prices at Henry Hub averaged $2.62 per thousand cubic feet (MCF) during 2015, compared with $4.28 during 2014. As of mid-February 2016, the Henry Hub spot price was $1.92 per MCF.

Outside the United States, price changes for natural gas depend on a wide range of supply, demand and regulatory circumstances. Chevron sells natural gas into the domestic pipeline market in most locations. In some locations, Chevron is investing in long-term projects to install infrastructure to produce and liquefy natural gas for transport by tanker to other markets. The company's long-term contract prices for liquefied natural gas (LNG) are typically linked to crude oil prices. Approximately 85 percent of the equity LNG offtake from the operated Australian LNG projects is targeted to be sold into binding long-term contracts, with the remainder to be sold in the Asian spot LNG market.  The Asian spot market reflects the supply and demand for LNG in the Pacific Basin and is not directly linked to crude oil prices. International natural gas realizations averaged $4.53 per MCF during 2015, compared with $5.78 per MCF during 2014. (See page FS-11 for the company’s average natural gas realizations for the U.S. and international regions.)

The company’s worldwide net oil-equivalent production in 2015 averaged 2.622 million barrels per day. About one-fifth of the company’s net oil-equivalent production in 2015 occurred in the OPEC-member countries of Angola, Nigeria, Venezuela and the Partitioned Zone between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. OPEC quotas had no effect on the company’s net crude oil production in 2015 or 2014. At their December 2015 meeting, members of OPEC did not agree on a target production level, and in January 2016 western sanctions on Iran were lifted. As such, OPEC output is now considered likely to increase from recent levels of approximately 31.5 million barrels per day as Iranian production and exports recover.

The company estimates that net oil-equivalent production in 2016 will be flat to 4