Bulgaria, Finland and Estonia could suffer major gas shortages if Russia cut off all its gas deliveries for six months, according to a report released Thursday by the European Commission.

Oil prices posted their biggest one-day drop in nearly two years Tuesday as a U.S.-led wave of crude has crashed into weak global demand, threatening the stability of some countries and providing an economic lifeline to others.

Bank of America Corp. and BNP Paribas SA predict prices will hold above $80 a barrel. Commerzbank AG also sees that level as a possible low for Brent crude. They’re in part counting on OPEC cutting output -- some say as soon as next month -- to compensate for recent declines in demand.

BG Group Plc (BG/) appointed Statoil ASA (STL)’s Helge Lund as chief executive officer, ending a leadership crisis at the U.K.’s third-largest oil and gas producer.

South African President Jacob Zuma outlined ambitious plans on Wednesday for oil andgas exploration in coastal waters that he said could contain as much as 9 billion barrels of crude and vast quantities of natural gas.

Russian state gas giant OAO Gazprom said second-quarter profit rose 13% on higher sales and prices which offset provisions for non-payment by Ukraine’s Naftogaz.

OPEC is resisting pressure to cut oil production while demand slumps as it tests how low prices must go to make U.S. shale oil unprofitable. As producers become more efficient, that floor is sinking.

Saudi Arabia effectively started a global oil price war this month aimed at quickly denting U.S. oil output. Slowing a U.S. drilling boom, however, could take more than a year.

Russia has proposed to Tokyo building a natural gas pipeline connecting fields in its far east with northern Japan, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The IEA Oil Market Report (OMR) for October reduced its forecast of global oil demand for 2014 by 0.2 million barrels per day (mb/d) from the previous month, to 92.4 mb/d, on lower expectations of economic growth and the weak recent trend. Annual demand growth for 2014 is now projected at 0.7 mb/d, rising tentatively to 1.1 mb/d in 2015 as the macroeconomic backdrop improves.