In June 2017, for the first time in 15 months, dry natural gas production increased year-to-year from the same month a year ago. The preliminary level for dry natural gas production in June 2017 was 2,188 billion cubic feet (Bcf), or 72.9 Bcf/day. This level was a 1.3 Bcf/day (1.9%) increase from the June 2016 level of 71.6 Bcf/day.

U.S. Rig Count is up 446 rigs from last year's count of 497, with oil rigs up 352, gas rigs up 95, and miscellaneous rigs down 1 to 2. Canada Rig Count is up 64 rigs from last year's count of 137, with oil rigs up 25 and gas rigs up 39.

Last week, U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) made its way to the somewhat unlikely market of Lithuania. The former Soviet republic traditionally bought its gas from Russian state company Gazprom; this was its first shipment from the United States. For President Donald Trump, that must have been a gratifying sign of the success of his administration’s nascent energy diplomacy.

Norway’s $970-billion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, should allocate a bigger share of its investments to renewable energy to boost returns, a U.S. energy policy think-tank said

U.S. Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 3.0 percent in the second quarter of 2017, according to the "second" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the first quarter, real GDP increased 1.2 percent.

The overall economy in the U.S. showed gains in July, adding 209,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The U.S. unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons remained essentially unchanged at 4.3 percent and 7.0 million, respectively.

U.S. - The Trump administration imposed new sanctions prohibiting trading new debt and equity issued by the Venezuelan government and state oil company PDVSA.

U.S. Rig Count is up 451 rigs from last year's count of 489, with oil rigs up 353, gas rigs up 99, and miscellaneous rigs down 1 to 1. Canada Rig Count is up 71 rigs from last year's count of 146, with oil rigs up 31 and gas rigs up 40.

US commercial crude oil inventories declined 3.3 million bbl during the week ended Aug. 18 compared with the previous week’s total, continuing a months-long downward trend.

U.S. - Industrial production rose 0.2 percent in July following an increase of 0.4 percent in June. The index for mining rose 0.5 percent in July for its fourth consecutive monthly increase. Within mining, gains in oil and gas extraction and in metal ore mining were partially offset by declines in nonmetallic mineral mining and in drilling and support activities. The decrease of 0.5 percent in drilling and support services followed 10 consecutive months of increases for that index.