Eni has started production of the giant gas field Perla, located in the Gulf of Venezuela, 50 kilometers offshore. The first production well has been opened and is currently in the clean-up phase.

Rosneft Chairman of the Management Board and Essar Group Founder Shashi Ruia signed a long-term contract for oil supplies for the purpose of refining at the Vadinar refinery (India).

Technip will reduce its global workforce by 6,000 employees and accelerate cost reduction and efficiency in “anticipation of an even more challenging environment in oil and gas.”

Running from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea, Nord Stream I is an export gas pipeline with an annual capacity of 55 billion cubic meters. Nord Stream AG is the project operator (Gazprom holds 51 per cent, Wintershall and E.ON – 15.5 per cent and ENGIE – 9 per cent).

The implementation of the terms of the signed document will allow Rosneft to access the high growth potential Egyptian gas market and deepen broader cooperation between the two companies. In addition the cooperation with EGAS will allow Rosneft to strengthen its position in the global LNG trading market.

The economic battle that is currently taking shape will have global ramifications for many years to come. Energy is certainly playing a major role in this economic battle, with Moscow seeking to counteract the desire of Washington and Brussels to divide Russia from Europe. The Russian government unquestionably has massive power owing to the amount of energy exportation that it is involved in, and a lack of cooperation in this regard would certainly be damaging to numerous Western companies and countries alike.

Europe could take advantage of global LNG dynamics, but much of the evolution of the European LNG market depends on Gazprom’s decisions in the short to medium term,

After the cancellation of the South Stream natural gas pipeline last December due to the EU’s blockage of the project, Russia announced an alternative project called the Turkish Stream which will hit the shore on the European side of Turkey near Kıyıköy.

Oil prices suffered their biggest selloff in five months on Monday, falling as much as 8 percent as Greece's rejection of debt bailout terms and China's stock market woes set off a deepening spiral of losses.

U.S. Rig Count is up 3 rigs from last week to 862, with oil rigs up 12 to 640, gas rigs down 9 to 219, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 3.