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.

Statoil ASA (STL), Norway’s biggest energy company, will sell its 15.5 percent stake in the Shah Deniz field in Azerbaijan to Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Bhd for $2.25 billion as it seeks to reduce investment and prioritize high-value projects.

This year's fall in energy prices is hastening the decline of big oil, as the seven Western majors sell-off assets, cut investment, return money to shareholders and shrink in size, leaving ever more output to small producers and state firms.

The cost of Kashagan, already the world’s most expensive oil project, is set to rise by nearly $4bn as the companies developing it are forced to replace 200km of leaking pipelines.

Ivory Coast will seek investors in its available offshore oil acreage, including seven new ultra-deep water blocks in the Gulf of Guinea, at a promotional event in Texas next week, a senior oil ministry official said on Tuesday.

Some analysts and investors worry that oil companies will not spend enough either to sustain growth in their core businesses, or to open options in alternative energy sources for a world in which oil and gas consumption is constrained by climate policy or high prices.

Eni reports second major oil find in as many days

Russia Arctic energy ambitions jeopardised by western sanctions

Italy struggles with Plan B if Russian gas supplies cut

Rosneft to drill in Arctic with Statoil