Real gross domestic product -- the value of the goods and services produced by the nation’s economy less the value of the goods and services used up in production, adjusted for price changes -- increased at an annual rate of 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015, according to the "advance" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 2.0 percent.

The oil and gas shock has been big enough to affect negatively the performance of the whole economy in the short run, even if it promises to have a positive impact in the long term.

Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) reported a loss of $588 million ($0.31 per share – diluted) for fourth quarter 2015, compared with earnings of $3.5 billion ($1.85 per share – diluted) in the 2014 fourth quarter. Foreign currency effects increased earnings in the 2015 quarter by $46 million, compared with an increase of $432 million a year earlier.

BP has taken around $1.5 billion in restructuring charges over the past five quarters; this total is expected to approach $2.5 billion by the end of 2016. BP expects to reduce the number of staff and contractor roles in the Upstream segment by around 4,000 during 2016 and by up to 3,000 from the Downstream by the end of 2017.

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: APC) today announced 2015 fourth-quarter results, reporting a net loss attributable to common stockholders of $1.250 billion, or $2.45 per share (diluted). These results include certain items typically excluded by the investment community in published estimates. In total, these items increased the net loss by $954 million, or $1.88 per share (diluted), on an after-tax basis. Cash flow from operating activities in the fourth quarter of 2015 was $257 million, and discretionary cash flow totaled $810 million.

Rosneft and General Electric signed a long-term cooperation program.

Medvedev also downplayed an expected influx of liquefied natural gas to Europe from the United States, saying Gazprom's gas would be cheaper.

«У нас есть задача сохранения традиционных рынков в Европе. При этом увеличением поставок на Восток тоже надо заниматься, это правильный вектор, и мы, безусловно, будем его поддерживать»,

Oil prices fell by 47 percent in 2015 and are expected to decline, on an annual average, by another 27 percent in 2016. However, from their current lows, a gradual recovery in oil prices is expected over the course of the year, for several reasons. First, the sharp oil price drop in early 2016 does not appear fully warranted by fundamental drivers of oil demand and supply, and is likely to partly reverse. Second, high-cost oil producers are expected to sustain persistent losses and increasingly make production cuts that are likely to outweigh any additional capacity coming to the market. Third, demand is expected to strengthen somewhat with a modest pickup in global growth.

“Everything is possible in theory. It was possible a year ago, a month ago. Nothing new has happened. This frenzy is idiotic. It stems from the fact that people can’t read.”