New data suggests that in 2Q17 global stocks fell by 0.5 mb/d and preliminary data for July, particularly in the United States where stocks fell by 790 kb/d, is supportive. Even so, we must not forget that they are falling from a very great height in volume terms. At the end of 2Q17, OECD commercial stocks, which are the component of the global total for which we have the most visibility, stood at 3 021 million barrels, still more than 219 mb above the five-year average although they have now fallen below 2016 levels. As an exercise, if OECD stocks fell by 0.5 mb/d until the end of 1Q18 when the current output agreements expire they would still be about 60 mb above the five-year average.

Средняя цена нефти марки Urals по итогам января - июля 2017 года составила $ 49,94 за баррель.

OPEC said world oil demand in 2018 will grow 1.28 million b/d from 2017 levels, meaning that total oil consumption is expected to hit a new record high of 97.8 million b/d in 2018.

EIA continues to expect US production to rise over the next two years and cross the 10 million b/d threshold in November 2018. It sees output averaging 9.35 million b/d in 2017, up 20,000 b/d from last month's outlook, and 9.91 million b/d in 2018, up 10,000 b/d from last month.

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.

To strengthen financial sector stability, Directors encouraged the authorities to take measures to bolster supervision, and move forward with plans to restructure the statemdash;owned banks that dominate the banking system. They also encouraged strengthening the legal framework of the Central Bank, eliminating a remaining exchange restriction and a multiple currency practice, and accelerating implementation of AML/CFT and antimdash;corruption measures. Directors considered that the peg to the U.S. dollar, which provides a key anchor to the economy, remains appropriate.

Mergers among offshore oil drillers are raising hopes that consolidation could bring relief to a sector struggling to emerge from an industry downturn triggered by low crude prices.

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.

Nabors Industries Ltd. ("Nabors") (NYSE: NBR) is pleased to announce that the company has signed an Arrangement Agreement ("Agreement") to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Tesco Corporation ("Tesco") (NASDAQ: TESO), with each outstanding share of common stock of Tesco being exchanged for 0.68 common shares of Nabors. This transaction will create a leading rig equipment and drilling automation provider by combining Canrig, Nabors rig equipment subsidiary, with Tesco's rig equipment manufacturing, rental and aftermarket service business. Additionally, Tesco operates a tubular services business in numerous key regions globally, which will immediately benefit Nabors Drilling Solutions' operation.