With hundreds of millions of people living without electricity in the world's poorest continent, African countries are increasingly turning to gas to take advantage of lower global LNG prices amid a supply glut.

U.S. Rig Count is down 287 rigs from last year's count of 809, with oil rigs down 189, gas rigs down 99, and miscellaneous rigs up 1. Canadian Rig Count is down 17 rigs from last year's count of 179, with oil rigs up 14, and gas rigs down 31.

Europe sees Israel and the region as an important supplier of gas to Europe

Speaking to Shana while departing Tehran for Algiers to attend the International Energy Forum (IEF) to be held Tuesday and Wednesday in Algiers, Zangeneh said the current market conditions are not favorable for crude oil producers and consumers in the mid- and long terms.

"Saudi Aramco is forecast to spend around $334 billion. This will be spent on material and services to support service facilities, infrastructure projects, drilling and maintain (oil) potential projects, unconventional resources both in the exploration phase and development and several other projects,"

Russia's oil taxes are already among the highest in the world.

“We expect global spending in the oil and gas sector will reach its nadir in 2016 , returning to growth in 2017,” Christopher Haines, BMI’s head of oil and gas research, said in the report. “For now, we see stronger growth in capital expenditure in 2018 , as better forecast oil prices are building confidence behind spending outlooks.”

The $45bn complex pipeline project running from Azerbaijan to Italy and consisting of four mega projects – Shah Deniz 2, South Caucasus Pipeline expansion (SCPX), Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (Tanap), and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) – would be delivered and will come in under budget, eventually delivering 16-32bn m³/yr.

An analysis by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found that the natural gas revolution generated more than 4.3 million jobs and injected nearly half a trillion dollars into the economy. It also determined that all those jobs would have been lost had the so-called “Keep it in the Ground” movement succeeded in suffocating the oil revolution.

U.S. Rig Count is down 327 rigs from last year's count of 838, with oil rigs down 223, gas rigs down 105, and miscellaneous rigs up 1. Canadian Rig Count is down 38 rigs from last year's count of 176, with oil rigs up 11, gas rigs down 49, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 0.