Statoil reported net income in accordance with IFRS of negative NOK 2.8 billion, mainly due to net impairment charges and provisions.

Countries should not bank on oil prices remaining low when formulating their energy policies, as supplies could tighten from mid-2016 due to a drop in investment and falling U.S. output, a senior industry official said on Monday.

With oil prices stuck at $50 per barrel, the Saudi Arabia’s annual export income will be around $130 billion lower this year in comparison to last year, Jason Tuvey, Middle East Economist at British economic research and consulting company Capital Economics said in a report obtained by Trend.

The outlook of gas supply prices to Europe was adjusted upward by more than 14% to $199 per 1,000 cubic meters for 2015, Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development said on Friday.

Maersk Oil has announced its intention to implement workforce reductions amounting to 10-12% of roles across its business.

BP reported operating cash flow for 3Q 2015 was $5.2 billion bringing the total for the first nine months of the year to $13.3 billion. Organic capital expenditure over the nine month period was $13.2 billion. At the end of the quarter, net debt was $25.6 billion representing a gearing level of 20.0%, including approximately 1% arising from the agreements in principle to settle with the United States government and Gulf states.

“Saudi Arabia actually triggered the price drop when it decided to defend its market share. The number of shale oil wells in North America has declined ever since, and probably won’t start to increase until the price hits $60[/bbl],”

The plan appears to be working. Oil remains 33 percent lower than when OPEC revealed its strategy on Nov. 27, trading for $48.38 a barrel at 10:13 a.m. in London Wednesday. U.S. crude production has retreated about 500,000 barrels a day from the three-decade peak reached in June to 9.1 million a day in the week to Oct. 9, according to data from the Energy Information Administration.

The foreign investment arm of India's top oil explorer ONGC is targeting $10-$12 billion of oil and gas asset purchases over the next three years, including more corporate acquisitions, its managing director said.

Vitol, the world's largest oil trader, believes the crude price will struggle to trade above $60 a barrel next year, as the effects of slowing global demand growth could be compounded by a return of Iranian and maybe even Libyan barrels.