Saudi Arabia’s policy has resulted in about $220 billion worth of investment cuts worldwide, much of which is a result of project deferrals, including deepwater projects off West Africa and in the Gulf of Mexico.

The fund’s half-yearly fiscal monitor report shows that in the past three years a hefty budget surplus in Saudi Arabia has been turned into a deficit of more than 20% of GDP – double the shortfalls seen in the UK and the US during the worst of the global slump of 2008-09.

Shell is planning for a longer period of low oil prices. But in the longer term, argues Ben van Beurden, there will be no change to fundamental drivers such as rising demand and the need for new supplies. Moreover, the industry should not be blinded by low oil prices. Even more than prices, the transition to a low-carbon energy future will shape its destiny over the coming decades. Carbon pricing systems are crucial in that transition. They encourage the quickest and most efficient ways of reducing emissions widely.

Over the past 25 years, China has attempted to develop its substantial CBM resources, estimated by China's Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR) at more than 1,000 trillion cubic feet (Tcf). Currently, there are more than 20,000 wells producing a total of 0.36 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of CBM in China. However, CBM well productivity in China is significantly lower than in countries such as Australia and the United States. CBM development in China has focused on the Ordos and Qinshui Basins of Shanxi Province. Although these two basins are considered to have China's best geologic conditions, they still face significant geologic challenges (low permeability, under-saturation) that reduce well productivity.

Third-quarter 2015 results could show continued declines in profits, cash flow, and capital expenditure if crude oil prices continue to decline.

Gazprom's new strategy appears to focus on flexibility in supply routes, markets and possibly even pricing; on dealing with the European energy market as a whole instead of piecemeal; and on leaving natural gas on Europe's doorstep to be transported to market through internal European pipelines.

U.S. Rig Count is down 4 rigs from last week to 838, with oil rigs down 4 to 640, gas rigs down 1 to 197, and miscellaneous rigs up 1 to 1.

The agreement concerning Nord Stream-2 represents a success for Russia; it accomplishes the strategic goals of Russian gas policy in Europe (main - ceasing gas exports through Ukraine), despite the difficult political relations with the EU, the Western sanctions regime, and Brussels’ declaration that it will diversify the EU’s sources of supply and reduce its dependence on Russian gas.

Although unrestricted exports of U.S. crude oil would leave global crude prices either unchanged or falling slightly compared to parallel cases that maintain current restrictions on crude oil exports, other factors affecting global supply and demand will largely determine whether global crude prices remain close to their current level, as in EIA's Low Oil Price case, or rise along a path closer to the Reference case trajectory. Global price drivers, as well as resource and technology outcomes, will affect growth in U.S. crude oil production regardless of decisions about future U.S. crude oil export policies.

Issues have emerged in Russia that could delay or prevent Schlumberger Limited. (NYSE:SLB) from closing a deal with Eurasia. Earlier this year, Schlumberger made a $1.7 billion offer to take a stake in Eurasia, also expressing willingness to acquire the rest of the company. Eurasia is Russia’s largest oil-services company. However, as it turns out, Russia’s Federal Security Service, also known as FSB, is expressing some reservations over the deal.

Continued growth in global production of petroleum and other liquids has outpaced consumption growth since August 2014, resulting in rising global liquids stocks. Total global liquids inventories are estimated to have grown by 2.3 million barrels per day (b/d) through the first seven months of 2015, the highest level of inventory builds through July of any year since 1998. These strong inventory builds have put significant downward pressure on near-term crude oil prices: North Sea Brent crude oil spot prices have averaged $58/barrel through July of this year compared to $109/b over the same period in 2014, responding to growth in global inventories.

Plunging oil prices have substantially reduced Saudi revenues. With Brent prices averaging roughly $100 per barrel in 2014, Saudi oil exports of 6.31 million barrels per day would have generated roughly $631 million in revenues daily. In the first quarter, with Brent prices averaging $53.92, the same output would have generated roughly $340 million daily, $291 million less per day than oil at $100 per barrel.

US LNG export projects face an uncertain future despite continued discoveries and production growth, a Brookings Institution analyst said. “More liquefaction capacity may be coming than markets can absorb,” warned Tim Boersma, acting director of Brookings’s Energy Security and Climate Initiative.

In May 2008, the company’s market capitalization reached $367.27 billion, making it one of world’s most valuable companies, according to a survey compiled by the Financial Times. Gazprom’s deputy chair, Alexander Medvedev, repeatedly predicted at the time that within a decade the Russian energy giant could be worth $1 trillion.

Gazprom is first and foremost a tool of Russian foreign policy, which Putin is not shy about wielding to pursue Russian interests. During Putin’s years in power, the Kremlin has used its control over Gazprom — increasing or decreasing the cost of energy — to maintain influence over Russia’s neighbors. Putin once described Gazprom as “a powerful political and economic lever of influence over the rest of the world,” and a team of Russian foreign policy experts noted that “if the leaders of this or that country decide to show good will towards the Russian Federation, then the situation with gas deliveries, pricing policy and former debts changes on a far more favorable note to the buyer.”