The worldwide rig count for May 2016 was 1,405, down 19 from the 1,424 counted in April 2016, and down 722 from the 2,127 counted in May 2015.

The global benchmark, Brent, gained 1.15% to reach $50.21 a barrel. Its U.S. counterpart, West Texas Intermediate, was trading up 1.13% at $49.17 a barrel.

Prices need to be at level above $50 a barrel for more crude supplies to come back to the market following a slump over the past two years, Khalid Al-Falih, Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, told reporters in his suite in a Vienna hotel.

While in Germany and Austria, the promoters of Nord Stream 2 are quite outspoken, in the Netherlands and France, there is recognizable, but more silent support in government circles. Here, as well, the main line of argu­mentation is based on the added value of infrastructure di­versification and the neutrality of political actors on eco­nomic activity in the market.

"The Council of Economic and Development Affairs has approved the final draft of the National Transformation Plan, which is one of the plans adopted and part of the 2030 vision, which was launched and adopted by the Saudi deputy crown prince, president of CEDA,"

In 1Q 2016, LUKOIL Group total hydrocarbon production (including our share in equity affiliates) increased by 0.5% y-o-y and reached 214.2 mln boe. Crude oil and NGL production was 183 mln bbl (-0.2% y-o-y). On an organic basis (excluding the impact of divestment of certain producing assets in Kazakhstan in 2015), oil production was up by 0.6% y-o-y with production decline at mature fields in Western Siberia more than offset by an increase in production in Iraq and projects in Timan-Pechora, Ural region and Northern Caspian in Russia.

U.S. Rig Count is up 4 rigs from last week to 408, with oil rigs up 9 at 325, gas rigs down 5 to 82, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 1. Canadian Rig Count is down 2 rigs from last week to 41, with oil rigs down 1 to 13, gas rigs unchanged at 28, and miscellaneous rigs down 1 at 0.

“We will be very gentle in our approach, so we don’t shock the market in any way,” Saudi Arabia’s new oil minister, Khalid Al-Falih, said before he sat down with his counterparts in Vienna on Thursday. “We are satisfied with the price movement over the last few months and think it will continue to gently edge up without much intervention, assuming that more or less OPEC production stays where it is.”

“We will be very gentle in our approach, so we don’t shock the market in any way,” Saudi Arabia’s new oil minister, Khalid Al-Falih, said before he sat down with his counterparts in Vienna on Thursday. “We are satisfied with the price movement over the last few months and think it will continue to gently edge up without much intervention, assuming that more or less OPEC production stays where it is.”

Banks are increasingly requiring U.S. oil and gas companies to maintain minimum levels of liquidity, an unusual step that could help reduce the risk of being exposed to companies struggling to maintain operations and repay debt.

US crude oil production in March averaged 9.127 million b/d, down from 9.133 million b/d in February and 9.648 million b/d in March 2015.

Chinese exports of diesel began to increase rapidly in 2015, driven by a structural shift in China's economy—which is reducing diesel demand—and by reforms in China's refining sector, which are contributing to increased refinery utilization and diesel production. These two factors have pushed Chinese net diesel exports higher, to more than 300,000 barrels per day in April.

Себестоимость добычи «Газпрома» остается самой низкой в мире: порядка $20 за 1000 куб. м, несмотря на то что компания вводит новые труднодоступные месторождения, рассказал зампред правления «Газпрома» Александр Медведев.

Russia’s crude production continuing to grow this year by around 100,000 b/d or even slightly above this figure. The growth is supported by investments made in previous years.

Oil futures jumped 31 percent this year, climbing above $50 a barrel last week, as U.S. crude stockpiles declined, trimming a glut. Robust demand in India and other emerging nations led the International Energy Agency in May to reduce its estimate of the global oil surplus for the first half. Brent last traded above $60 in July.