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. Most of the equity LNG offtake from the operated Australian LNG projects is committed under 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 $4.02 per MCF during 2016, compared with $4.53 per MCF during 2015. (See page FS-12 for the company’s average natural gas realizations for the U.S. and international regions.)

The company’s worldwide net oil-equivalent production in 2016 averaged 2.594 million barrels per day. About one-sixth of the company’s net oil-equivalent production in 2016 occurred in the OPEC-member countries of Angola, Nigeria and Venezuela. OPEC quotas had no effect on the company’s net crude oil production in 2016 or 2015.

The company estimates that net oil-equivalent production in 2017 will grow 4 to 9 percent compared to 2016, assuming a Brent crude oil price of $50 per barrel and before the effect of anticipated asset sales.  The impact of 2017 asset sales on full-year production is expected to be in the range of 50,000 to 100,000 barrels of oil-equivalent per day, depending on the timing of the close of individual transactions. This estimate is subject to many factors and uncertainties, including the duration of the low price environment that began in second-half 2014; quotas or other actions that may be imposed by OPEC; price effects on entitlement volumes; changes in fiscal terms or restrictions on the scope of company operations; delays in construction, start-up or ramp-up of projects; fluctuations in demand for natural gas in various markets; weather conditions that may shut in production; civil unrest; changing geopolitics; delays in completion of maintenance turnarounds; greater-than-expected declines in production from mature fields; or other disruptions to operations. The outlook for future production levels is also affected by the size and number of economic investment opportunities and, for new, large-scale projects, the time lag between initial exploration and the beginning of production. Investments in upstream projects generally begin well in advance of the start of the associated crude oil and natural gas production. A significant majority of Chevron’s upstream investment is made outside the United States.

In the Partitioned Zone between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, production was shut-in beginning in May 2015 as a result of difficulties in securing work and equipment permits. Net oil-equivalent production in the Partitioned Zone in 2014 was 81,000 barrels per day. During 2015, net oil-equivalent production averaged 28,000 barrels per day. As of early 2017, production remains shut in and the exact timing of a production restart is uncertain and dependent on dispute resolution between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The financial effects from the loss of production in