Energy Update

LONDON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - With crude prices at 11-year lows, the world's biggest oil and gas producers are facing their longest period of investment cuts in decades, but are expected to borrow more to preserve the dividends demanded by investors.

HOUSTON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - U.S. "stripper well" operators, the nation's smallest oil producers seen as most likely to succumb to the crude price slump, are hanging in tough, reducing the chances of near-term production cuts needed to rebalance the domestic oil market.

(Corrects second paragraph to show tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran) * Won falls on intervention risk as yuan hits 4-1/2-yr low * Shares down on tepid China PMI SEOUL, Jan 4 (Reuters) - The South Korean won and shares weakened on Monday morning as a survey on Chinese factory activity for December came in below forecasts, rekindling concerns over the economic health of South Korea's biggest trading partner. A flare-up in tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran also spurre

(Corrects year in paragraph 5 to 2015) By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped over 2 percent in the first trading hours of 2016 as relations between Middle Eastern rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran deteriorated following Riyadh's execution of a prominent Shi'ite Muslim cleric. Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Iran on Sunday, responding to the storming of its embassy in Tehran in an escalating row between the two major oil producers over Riyadh's execut