A U.S. Senate committee passed a bill in July to place sanctions on companies and individuals involved in building the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany.

Mr Zlochevsky, the owner of Burisma, Ukraine’s largest private gas company which acquired several of its extraction licences while he was in government, had lost a political patron when Mr Yanukovich was evicted from office. Weeks later the energy tycoon sought help elsewhere. Burisma made a surprise appointment to its board: Hunter Biden, younger son of then-US vice-president Joe Biden.

U.S. Rig Count is down 8 rigs from last week to 860, with oil rigs down 6 to 713, gas rigs down 2 to 146, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 1. Canada Rig Count is up 8 rigs from last week to 127, with oil rigs up 6 to 88 and gas rigs up 2 to 39.

Treasury imposed sanctions on Moscow-based Maritime Assistance LLC, which it called a front company for Russian shipping company, Sovfracht, which has been subject to US sanctions since September 2016 for operating in Crimea. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014, a move which is not recognized by most of the international community.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday it was impossible for Turkey to stop buying oil and natural gas from Iran, despite the threat of U.S. sanctions, and added that trade between the two countries would continue, according to broadcaster NTV.

South Korea’s state-run Korea Gas Corp. signed a deal to import an additional US$9.6 billion worth of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States for up to 18 years, in line with efforts to expand ties with the world’s top economy in the energy segment, Seoul’s trade ministry said

Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.0 percent in the second quarter of 2019, according to the "third" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the first quarter, real GDP increased 3.1 percent.

At 419.5 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are at the five year average for this time of year

Analysts have said the Trump administration remains unlikely to sanction a major Chinese entity, even as imports of Iranian crude continue, due to the impact on the global economy if the trade dispute between the two nations drags on.

The U.S. solar energy industry will add an additional 113,000 jobs and generate $87 billion in investment over the next decade if U.S. lawmakers extend the sector’s key tax credit, a report published on Tuesday said.