Oil prices surged Friday following the death of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, with investors watching to see if his successor will maintain output in the face of a global supply glut that had sent crude to six-year lows.

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for March delivery soared as much as 3.1 percent in New York after the Saudi royal court announced the death.

Ukraine has asked the IMF for a new and broader rescue package, and will seek to renegotiate its debt with bond holders, officials said on Wednesday as the war-torn country fights to save its reeling economy.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde met Ukrainian Petro Poroshenko on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos and said Ukraine requested that the Washington-based IMF deepen its relationship with Kiev.

Spain's unemployment rate fell in 2014 for the second straight year, dropping by just over two points to 23.7 percent, but still remains at one of the highest levels in the European Union, official data showed on Thursday.

The fall was greater than what had been expected by the government, which had forecast the country would end 2014 with a jobless rate of 24.2 percent as en economic recovery gains pace.

Oil prices edged lower in Asia Thursday as dealers await a much-anticipated European Central Bank (ECB) policy meeting and the release of the latest U.S. supply report, analysts said. 

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in March fell 29 cents to $47.49 while Brent for March eased 10 cents to $48.93 in afternoon trade. 

Venezuela's embattled president pledged Wednesday night to strengthen safety net programs and he rejected devaluing the currency during a long-delayed speech addressing the socialist country's deteriorating economy.

President Nicolas Maduro had promised several times in the past month to make announcements regarding the South American country's worsening shortages of basic goods and its deepening recession, and many people had expected him to drastically change the price and currency controls that economists say contribute to crippling 60 percent inflation.

The Russian government is preparing to launch an "anti-crisis program" to tackle the country's stalled economy at the cost of 1.375 trillion rubles (18 billion euros, $21 billion), deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov said Wednesday.

Meeting President Vladimir Putin, Shuvalov said: "According to this plan, now we need to finance measures to the sum of 1.375 trillion rubles," according to the Interfax news agency. 

French energy giant Total is expected to abandon its search for oil and gas off Cyprus after failing to find any significant targets for exploratory drilling, Energy Minister George Lakkotrypis said Wednesday.

Total “has not found any geological structures or targets to continue its obligations” in the blocks it is licensed to exploit, Lakkotrypis said.

Non-OPEC oil producer Oman described as bad politics and bad business Wednesday the cartel's November decision to make no cut in output, which sent world prices crashing.

OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia said the decision was necessary to prevent the cartel losing market share after a sharp increase in U.S. shale oil production.

Oil prices are unlikely to fall further after a plunge of nearly 60 percent since June, Iraqi Oil Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said on Wednesday.

"Our estimate is that the prices (of oil) have reached the bottom. It is very difficult to drop lower than this," Abdul Mahdi told a conference in Kuwait.

A New York court Tuesday handed a four-year prison sentence to a Bitcoin exchange operator who sold virtual currency used to buy drugs on the Silk Road underground website.

Robert Faiella, 55, and an accomplice were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and running an unlicensed money transmitting business.