July 2015

Crude oil production in August from seven major US shale plays is expected to decline 91,000 b/d to 5.36 million b/d.

Russia’s Rosneft and Norway’s Statoil completed drilling works as part of the Pilot Project at the PK1 layer of the North-Komsomolskoye field in Purovsky and Nadymsky regions of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District.

“It’s a serious problem not just for the United States but for the whole world economy. Debt exceeds gross domestic product there.”

OPEC pumped 31.28 million barrels per day in June, the fourth straight month since February that the group has added production.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said Monday it revised down the demand for its crude this year, to a level far below its current output, despite higher estimates for global consumption.

Massive oversupply is likely to push oil prices down even further, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday, adding that the rebalancing of the market was likely to last well into 2016.

U.S. Rig Count is up 1 rig from last week to 863, with oil rigs up 5 to 645, gas rigs down 2 to 217, and miscellaneous rigs down 2 to 1.

Over the past decade, domestic refinery output of petroleum products has grown significantly while consumption has declined, resulting in a major increase in product exports. Petroleum product exports averaged 4.1 million barrels per day (b/d) in the first four months of the year, an increase of 0.5 million b/d over exports the same time last year. Product imports are also higher than last year, but to a lesser extent, leading to an increase in net petroleum product exports.

Eni has started production of the giant gas field Perla, located in the Gulf of Venezuela, 50 kilometers offshore. The first production well has been opened and is currently in the clean-up phase.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC is days away from drilling in the Arctic Ocean—betting it can find enough oil to justify the huge risks that keep almost every other competitor out of those icy waters.