Russia has been holding active, "unprecedented" consultations with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, a senior official said on Wednesday, a clear signal of Moscow's strive for higher oil prices.

Russia's top gas producer Gazprom warned the European Union on Monday against moves to block Moscow's plans to bypass Ukraine as a transit country for its gas to Europe and said it needed guarantees on gas purchases.

Lukoil will likely pull out from Saudi Arabia where the economics of its search for gas have been crushed by the collapse of the oil price, three industry sources said.

Nigeria’s incoming government should consider selling down its majority stakes in joint ventures with multinational oil companies to shore up state finances and raise funding for infrastructure development, according to the central bank governor.

On March 16, the presidents of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia travelled to Kars in Turkey’s mountainous northeast, and then to a remote worksite near the border with Georgia, to launch construction of the 1,850km Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (Tanap).

The rebalancing of the global oil market may still be in its early stage with the outlook “only getting murkier”, according to the International Energy Agency, as uncertainties remain about demand and supply responses to the steep drop in prices.

Rapid and aggressive strategic response by oil and gas companies to low oil prices has driven industry cash flow breakevens down by $20/bbl to $72/bbl, according to a recent analysis of Wood Mackenzie. If oil prices remain at current levels, further cuts would be required to achieve cash flow neutrality, WoodMac said. For some companies, this will mean selling assets, others may suspend or limit dividend and buyback programs.

Oil production from the fastest-growing U.S. shale plays is set to fall some 45,000 barrels per day to 4.98 million bpd in May from April, the first monthly decline in over four years, projections from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed on Monday.

OPEC's strategy of holding output steady is not working and the group's members should discuss production levels before its next meeting in June, Iran's oil minister said, a sign of the pain lower prices are causing OPEC's less wealthy producers.

Advances in technology, standards and practices in the last five years have made America’s offshore #oil and natural #gas industry safer than ever, #API President and CEO Jack Gerard told reporters on a press conference call today.