Trade between the countries fell overall last year as oil prices dropped. Japan's 2.1 trillion yen ($18.6 billion) in imports from Saudi Arabia in 2016, mostly oil and gas, dwarfed its exports of 546.3 billion yen ($4.8 billion).

The deeply troubled power industry accounts for almost one-tenth of all bank loans in India, and thus poses a threat to already weakened lenders, according to data from Morgan Stanley. What is more, like so many other industries, the power business is facing significant technological challenges as the cost of solar energy continues falling.

A significant, years-long oil supply crunch may be approaching due to insufficient investment in exploration and production, Hess CEO John Hess said Monday at IHS CERAWeek.

ExxonMobil anticipates capital spending of $22 billion in 2017, an increase of 16 percent from 2016. Capital and exploration expenses through the end of the decade will average $25 billion annually.

Indonesia needs to invest $70 billion to $80 billion in gas infrastructure through 2030 to avoid a potential gas shortage, as domestic consumption growth outpaces supply, state-owned energy business Pertamina said Tuesday.

Abullah bin Mohammed Al Thani, the fund’s chief executive, said it would invest a further $2bn on top of $500m of existing investments in the country. Some of the investments would be made jointly with the $10bn sovereign Russian Direct Investment Fund, its partner in a deal last summer for St. Petersburg’s airport, he added.

Libya froze all new foreign investment in 2011 after the civil war that toppled strongman Moammar Gadhafi. International oil companies such as Total SA of France and ConocoPhillips have long had operations in Libya, and Eni SpA of Italy has found ways to keep pumping even as clashes among warring militias and Islamic State damaged the country’s oil infrastructure.

Cnooc said it plans to lift capital spending to between Rmb60bn and RMB70bn this year, from budgeted capex of Rmb50.3bn in 2016. It intends to produce between 450m and 460m barrels of oil equivalent this year, compared with an estimated 476m last year.

The world could run short of oil by 2020 due to the recent sharp global downturn in upstream investment, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said Thursday.

The outlook is clouded by uncertainty about policy direction in major economies. A protracted period of uncertainty could prolong the slow growth in investment that is holding back low, middle, and high income countries.