Wind and solar developers together have added about 40 gigawatts to the U.S. grid over the past two years, bringing total installed wind and solar capacity to about 120 gigawatts.

Qatar and Russia have long been rivals in global gas markets. Qatar's supplies came under the spotlight in the past month after Saudi Arabia cut economic and diplomatic ties, in a move ratcheting up a wider violent and diplomatic conflict in the Middle East.

Australia is set to apply LNG export controls, aimed at securing domestic supply of gas and keeping prices of the fuel in check, from January 1, the government announced earlier this week despite industry warnings about the decision's potential impact on energy investment.

Creditor banks to India's Essar Oil approved the acquisition of the company by a group including Russia's Rosneft, two sources familiar with the matter said, removing a key hurdle to the $12.9 billion deal that has been in the works for two years.

U.S. Rig Count is up 520 rigs from last year's count of 421, with oil rigs up 428, gas rigs up 93, and miscellaneous rigs down 1 to 0. Canadian Rig Count is up 94 rigs from last year's count of 76, with oil rigs up 62, gas rigs up 33, and miscellaneous rigs down 1 to 0.

«Роснефть» намерена развивать сотрудничество с китайскими партнерами в добыче и переработке, транспортировке и хранении энергоресурсов, торговле нефтью и нефтепродуктами, а также в финансовой сфере».

China plans to invest 2.5 trillion yuan (US$368 billion) into renewable energy projects during the 2016-2020 period, creating more than 13 million jobs in the sector, according to the National Energy Administration.

According to Tatiana Mitrova, head of the oil and gas research department at the Energy Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, there will be no need for new Russian LNG or pipeline gas to Asia until 2025.

Preliminary production figures for May 2017 show an average daily production of 1 980 000 barrels of oil, NGL and condensate, which is a decrease of 128 000 barrels per day compared to April.

On Wednesday, Brent LCOc1 was flat at $46.02 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures CLc1 added 4 cents to $43.55.