Saudi Aramco, the kingdom's state oil giant, is talking to banks about raising a $5 billion loan related to a refinery it built in collaboration with China's Sinopec.

Buying crude oil from Russia allows China to ensure security of supply as cooperation between the two countries is likely "to gain new momentum," China National Petroleum Corp. Chairman Wang Yilin said Friday.

Rosneft and Indian ONGC Videsh Limited during the Eastern Economic Forum signed the agreement of sale and purchase of 15% in Vankorneft and shareholders agreement in regard of the enterprise management. The document was signed by the Chairman of Rosneft Management Board Igor Sechin and Managing Director of ONGC Videsh Limited Narendra Verma.

‘Magadanmorneftegaz, Lisyanskmorneftegaz (joint ventures of Rosneft and Statoil) and China Oilfield Services Limited (COSL) signed a contract to drill two exploration wells in 2016. The wells will be drilled in the Magadan-1 and Lisyansky areas of the Okhotsk Sea’ Rosneft wrote on Wednesday.

At a time when the oil price is languishing at its lowest level in six years, producers need to find half a trillion dollars to repay debt.

The Russian government has decided not to fund four out of five Rosneft projects for which the oil company had requested financing from the sovereign wealth fund, the economy minister said on Monday.

India’s Oil & Natural Gas Corp.(ONGC) is reportedly negotiating with Russia’s Rosneft to purchase a share of the Vankor oil field in East Siberia, indicating that the increase in production wanted by the Russian company could come hand in hand with stronger ties with foreign companies.

Under the second stage of the Production Sharing Agreement of the Shah Deniz Project in Azerbaijan, LUKOIL Overseas Shah Deniz Ltd. (a fully-owned PJSC LUKOIL subsidiary) has signed in Baku a 12 year credit-facility agreement with a consortium of banks to borrow USD 1 billion.

The six nations that make up Central Asia hold at least 11% of the world’s proven natural gas reserves, as well as substantial deposits of oil and coal, according to data compiled by BP. Afghanistan says its mineral wealth is valued at $1 trillion to $3 trillion.

Global oil and natural-gas producers have delayed $200 billion of investment in more than 45 projects following the slump in crude prices, according to Wood Mackenzie.

Last week, Operator Statoil and its PL146/PL333 partner Total E&P Norge announced they made a gas and condensate discovery in the Julius prospect in the King Lear area in Norway’s North Sea

States are attempting to get their hands on long-term gas supply contracts with the Russian natural gas exporter Gazprom and pave the way for a multi-commodity energy supplier business where they can influence end-user prices directly.

Iran produces about 2.7m barrels of oil a day. But a report by Wood Mackenzie, the energy consultancy, to be published on Thursday, says that it could add 600,000 b/d of crude production by the end of 2017, assuming that it strikes a nuclear deal with the US and EU that lifts sanctions.

Pro-development policies could increase cumulative local, state, and federal government revenue by over $1 trillion and lower average annual household energy expenses by $360 by 2035, according to the study. A path of regulatory constraints would lead to a cumulative decrease of $500 billion in government revenue from 2016 to 2035 and an increase of $242 in average annual household energy costs.

Germany’s Wintershall agreed Thursday to sell stakes in several North Sea assets and fields to Tellus Petroleum for a combined $602 million.