Socar President Rovnag Abdullaev disclosed last week that Azerbaijan was in the process of negotiating an agreement under which it would purchase 3-5bn m³/yr of gas from Gazprom.

Perhaps the biggest hurdle is Russia’s business climate. While frequently fodder for criticism, there’s progress. Russia has surged by 61 spots in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index since 2013 to 51st this year.

France’s energy and environment minister Segolene Royal wants to find a “legal way” to prevent the import of non-conventional US LNG.

U.S. Rig Count is down 9 rigs from last week to 406, with oil rigs down 10 to 318, gas rigs up 1 to 87, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 1. Canadian Rig Count is up 7 rigs from last week to 43, with oil rigs up 5 to 16, gas rigs up 2 to 26, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 1.

Reform of sprawling state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to improve efficiency is a priority for China's leaders as growth slows in the world's second biggest economy, and was a key plank of the country's latest five-year plan agreed in 2015.

The United States is deeply concerned about the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline project as a threat to national security, a senior U.S. energy envoy said on Friday, after the issue was raised at talks in Washington this week.

Brent crude oil prices are forecast to average $41/b in 2016 and $51/b in 2017.

Japan is aiming to become an international LNG trading hub by the early 2020s, opening access to receiving terminals and beefing up large-scale storage facilities.

Azerbaijan can boost annual gas exports to 50bn m3 by 2050, deputy energy minister Natig Abbasov said recently.

Tesco Corporation Reports First Quarter 2016 Results: - Revenues declined to $35.5 million as a result of challenging market conditions - Cash increased $2.4 million during the quarter, ending at $53.9 million with no debt - Adjusted EBITDA was $(7.8) million, or (22)% of revenue - Reported diluted EPS was a loss of $1.45 and adjusted EPS was a loss of $0.46, after $0.99 in charges - Restructuring programs since Q4 2014 expected to yield $60 million of annualized savings