The US' crude oil imports to China were last highest in January 2018 when inflows hit 2.01 million mt, or 474,450 b/d.

The U.S. economy slipped into recession in February. Gross domestic product contracted in the second quarter at its steepest pace in at least 73 years.

“Although the market remains uncertain, we saw encouraging signs in July with gradual rebalancing of oil supply and demand,” API Chief Economist Dean Forman said. “Increases in U.S. refinery throughput and capacity utilization in July – coupled with inventories receding from record highs – has reinforced expectations for the continued demand recovery.”

The German economy contracted at its steepest rate on record in the second quarter and the government is desperate to mitigate the effects of the pandemic as much as possible,

Brent added 14 cents, or 0.3%, to $45.27 a barrel , WTI was down 4 cents, or 0.1%, at $42.58 a barrel.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has inaugurated three major gas projects worth over $5.5 billion

Iraq is under US pressure to wean itself off Iranian electricity and gas imports, needed due to power shortages and flaring of associated gas, which is also bound by production limits due to the country's attempted adherence to OPEC+ production cuts.

Turkey’s natural gas imports in the January-June period of this year dropped by 3.5% to 22.5 billion cubic meters (bcm). Out of this amount, Turkey imported 12.1 bcm via pipeline and 10.3 bcm as liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Norway's preliminary production figures for July 2020 show an average daily production of 2 062 000 barrels of oil, NGL and condensate.

Germany's central bank expects household spending to drive a strong recovery in the third quarter