The number of rigs running in the US to drill the horizontal wells used for shale oil production has been rising since May. At 272 last week it was at its highest level since early April, according to Baker Hughes, the oilfield services company.

The United States holds more recoverable oil reserves than Saudi Arabia and Russia thanks in large part to its shale oil, Norwegian consultancy Rystad Energy said in a report.

Indonesia's state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina will seek partners to build a strategic petroleum reserve of about 25 million barrels to ensure energy security.

To make matters worse, evidence suggests that, after controlling for income levels, the responsiveness of consumption to income gains for most of the income distribution has weakened in recent years. This puts further downward pressure on consumption. Combined, these effects are estimated to translate to about 3½ percentage points of lost U.S. consumption over 1998–2013—equivalent to more than one year of total consumption growth.

US crude oil production during April amounted to 8.933 million b/d, a decline of 2.5% from the March average and 7.9% from the April 2015 average.

Midway through 2016, U.S. pipeline exports to Mexico have been increasing substantially. Daily PointLogic data show that year-to-date, pipeline exports to Mexico have averaged 3.5 Bcf/d, 37% above year ago levels and 89% above the five-year (2011–15) average level. Mexico’s growing use of natural gas in the power sector and flat-to-declining production have led Mexico to increase its pipeline imports. At the same time, the growth in power burn has been driven by the increased availability of low natural gas prices as a result of the infrastructure buildout.

Monthly average crude oil prices for April rose in all categories of sale. The average domestic crude oil first purchase price increased $3.72 (11.7%), to $35.59 per barrel.

U.S. Rig Count is up 10 rigs from last week to 431, with oil rigs up 11 to 341, gas rigs down 1 to 89, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 1. Canadian Rig Count is unchanged from last week at 76, with oil rigs down 1 to 35, gas rigs up 1 to 40, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 1.

Gazprom will send some of the gas from its controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline through Slovakia, the Russian state-controlled company said, in a move that may soften Slovak opposition to the project.

Gazprom's gas sales in Europe in the first half of 2016 rose by 14.2%, or 10.6 Bcm, compared with the same period of last year, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said Thursday, signaling a sharp slowdown in export growth in the second quarter of this year.