Rosneft Successfully Closes Strategic Deal for the Acquisition of 49% of Essar Oil Limited

The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd joint venture has started production at Gbaran-Ubie Phase 2, a key project in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region.

Preliminary production figures for July 2017 show an average daily production of 2 000 000 barrels of oil, NGL and condensate, which is an increase of 93 000 barrels per day compared to June.

API President and CEO Jack Gerard called President Trump’s executive order to streamline energy infrastructure an important step in speeding up projects, creating jobs, and improving government efficiencies in delivering energy Americans demand.

Crude oil production from the seven major U.S. onshore producing regions is forecast to increase 117,000 b/d month-over-month in September to 6.149 million b/d.

Iran, Russia and Turkey signed agreement on maintaining trilateral cooperation in developing oil and gas fields.

Gerhard Schröder, the former German chancellor, looks set to deepen his already close ties with the Russian energy sector, after he was nominated as an independent director to the board of state-controlled oil company Rosneft.

North Sea Brent crude oil spot prices averaged $48 per barrel (b) in July, $2/b higher than the June average and almost $4/b higher than in July 2016. EIA forecasts Brent spot prices to average $51/b in 2017 and $52/b in 2018. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices are forecast to average $2/b less than Brent prices in both 2017 and 2018.

U.S. Rig Count is up 468 rigs from last year's count of 481, with oil rigs up 372, gas rigs up 98, and miscellaneous rigs down 2 to 0. Canadian Rig Count is up 94 rigs from last year's count of 126, with oil rigs up 62, gas rigs up 33, and miscellaneous rigs down 1 to 0.

The U.S. will export more natural gas than it imports in 2017. The United States has been a net exporter for three of the past four months and is expected to continue to export more natural gas than it imports for the rest of 2017 and throughout 2018. The United States’ status as a net exporter is expected to continue past 2018 because of growing U.S. natural gas exports to Mexico, declining pipeline imports from Canada, and increasing exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG).