Seven months after Russia made the latest changes to its oil tax regime, the industry seems to have been able to adapt more easily to the new landscape than had been expected at the turn of the year. However, market experts have warned that the government must consider more fiscal reforms as the current system is continuing to distort the sector. The so-called tax maneuver, which includes a phased reduction in export duty for crude and oil products over 2015-2017 and an increase in oil extraction tax, was introduced in January.

Oil and gas production from the North Sea is expected to increase for the first time in 15 years despite a global slump in the price of crude and hundreds of job losses in the industry.

Nabors Industries Ltd. ("Nabors")(NYSE: NBR)today reported second-quarter revenue and earnings from unconsolidated affiliates of $862 million, compared to $1.42 billion in the first quarter of 2015, and $1.62 billion in the second quarter of last year. The comparable quarters included $367 million and $535 million respectively, in revenue from Completion and Production Services, a business line that merged with C&J Energy Services on March 24, 2015. Beginning in the second quarter, Nabors' results reflect equity-method accounting for this investment on a quarter-lag basis.

On a reported basis, due to a non-cash, full-cost ceiling charge, Devon had a net loss of $2.8 billion, or $6.94 per diluted share, for the second-quarter 2015. This compares with second-quarter 2014 reported net earnings of $675 million, or $1.64 per diluted share.

Gazprom's gas prices are pegged to oil with a six-month lag, which means its customers are currently paying the equivalent of $45-$50 per barrel seen in January 2015 when oil prices crashed following a decision by OPEC not to reduce output.

US shale gas is the unexpected loser from President Barack Obama’s climate plan, as the White House abandons its previous enthusiasm for natural gas as a cleaner alternative to coal.

BP’s second-quarter replacement cost (RC) loss was $6,266 million, compared with a profit of $3,182 million a year ago.

Claudio Descalzi, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “In the first half of the year we have achieved excellent industrial results across our businesses, which enable us to revise upwards several of the targets set out in the strategic plan presented inMarch. In upstream we delivered record production growth and we have significantly contained costs. Furthermore, the recent start-up of production in the Perla field in Venezuela, and forthcoming start-up of Goliat in Norway will provide an important contribution in the second half. The mid-downstream businesses all reached profitability, thanks to the strong progress we have made in restructuring our refineries and petrochemical plants, successful renegotiations of gas contracts and further interventions on efficiency. These actions have helped to contain the impact of thefall in hydrocarbons prices, both in terms of economics and cash generation. Despite the halving of oil prices, we have generated €5.7 billion of cash flow, in line with the first half of 2014, which has financed almost all capital investment in the half year. This is a very significant result, given that self-financing investment is the main challenge facing the sector today. These better than expected results enable me to confirm the proposal of an interim dividend of €0.40 per share to the Board of Directors, on September 17”.

Compared with the second quarter 2014, CCS earnings excluding identified items benefited from strong Downstream results reflecting steps taken by the company to improve financial performance and higher realised refining margins. In Upstream, earnings were impacted by the significant decline in oil and gas prices and decreased production volumes, partly offset by lower costs and depreciation.

Despite falling crude prices, Total managed to report a better result as its output for the quarter grew and cost cutting measures paid off. Crude oil prices have more than halved from their peaks last year. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude oil futures - the benchmarks for crude oil prices are currently trading at $47.86 per barrel and $53.07 per barrel respectively. During the quarter, oil traded around $60 per barrel.