In November 2011, Iraq signed a $17 billion deal to form a joint venture to gather, process and market gas from three oil fields in the oil-rich province of Basra. The fields are the 17.8 billion-barrel Rumaila, the 4.1 billion barrel Zubair field and the 8.6 billion barrel West Qurna Stage 1.

The project includes the ongoing construction of a new ethylene cracker and ethylene derivatives units, which will increase ethylene capacity by more than 1 million tonnes of per year, about double the current capacity. It will also include a styrene monomer and propylene oxide (SMPO) plant, which will be the largest such plant ever built in China.

Saudi Aramco, through its wholly owned Saudi Refining Inc. (SRI), and Royal Dutch Shell, through its US downstream affiliate, agreed on Thursday to divide the assets of its 50:50 joint venture Motiva Enterprises.

The International Energy Agency estimates that over $25 trillion of investment will be needed in oil and gas supply alone from 2015 to 2040. So the long-term investment case for oil and gas remains strong, despite the fall in oil prices over the last 18 months. The concern is that prices seen in late 2015 and early 2016 may be too low to spur investment in projects that are needed to ensure long-term supplies. Without sufficient investment, the risk of demand exceeding supply will increase.

From February 15, BG Group is part of Royal Dutch Shell. This combination brings together two world-class portfolios creating a more competitive company. We have acquired productive oil and gas projects across countries including Brazil and Australia and will be able to shape a simpler, leaner company. Together we will focus on our core expertise in deep water and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The global oil market will rebalance later this year, paving the way for a recovery in crude prices from their lowest level in more than a decade, according to Royal Dutch Shell’s chief executive.

The shareholders of both Royal Dutch Shell PLC and BG Group PLC have approved the proposed merger of the two companies, and the deal is set to close on Feb. 15, some 10 months after it was first reported

Particular attention was given to the Nord Stream 2 project. The parties noted that in light of the declining European gas production, the construction of this gas pipeline was crucial for meeting the growing Russian gas demand in Europe in the future.

Shell has already taken action to cut costs and reduce spending this year by $12 billion, but Tuesday’s announcement of a $33 billion target for next year is $2 billion below the company’s previous guidance.

Shell is consulting experts and commercial partners about what to do with the reinforced concrete base structures, each of which rises 160m from the seabed and weighs about 300,000 tonnes. The low oil price has put companies under pressure to shut facilities as cheaply as possible.