Looking at the outcome of the sensitivities Mr Tomnay offers in closing: “Russia's export strategy will be a key determinant of US LNG export capacity utilisation, but the Russian pursuit of European market share to drive out US LNG from Europe seems either uneconomic and/or impractical under different external conditions. Instead other factors such as the price of US gas, oil and European coal prices will likely be greater determinants of US LNG export capacity utilisation. Subject to these factors alone, average utilisation of US LNG export capacity between 2017-20 could vary from 54-100%. For US LNG exporters, the best thing to happen would be for global coal prices to rise, or for US gas prices to stay low."

Oil prices have rallied by almost 50 per cent since dropping below $30 a barrel in January, tempting producers to grab any price that will allow them to keep operating through the worst commodity crash in more than 20 years.

U.S. Rig Count is down 9 rigs from last week to 480, with oil rigs down 6 to 386, and gas rigs down 3 to 94. Canadian Rig Count is down 31 rigs from last week to 98, with oil rigs down 22 to 28, and gas rigs down 9 to 70.

Net Benefits of Prolonged Drop in Oil Prices Diminish or Turn Negative for Some Sectors.

The data was revealed with the release of the Government Expenditure & Revenue Scotland (GERS) on March 9. According to that data, North Sea oil and gas revenue fell by 55% between the fiscal years 2013-2014 and 2014-2015. The revenue for 2014-2015 was just £2.25bn, less than half of the £4.8bn recorded in 2013-2014, and less than a quarter of the £10.9bn recorded in 2011-12.

The International Energy Agency estimates that over $25 trillion of investment will be needed in oil and gas supply alone from 2015 to 2040. So the long-term investment case for oil and gas remains strong, despite the fall in oil prices over the last 18 months. The concern is that prices seen in late 2015 and early 2016 may be too low to spur investment in projects that are needed to ensure long-term supplies. Without sufficient investment, the risk of demand exceeding supply will increase.

At low oil prices, customer choice rather than strategic Russian decision-making would allow Russia to retain over 30% of the roughly 490bn m³/yr European market and threaten US LNG export volumes.

U.S. monthly crude oil production in December 2015 continued to decline, as oil production reached its lowest level since November 2014. Production also declined from year-ago levels for the first time in more than four years. This continued production decline is the result of lower crude prices, which have declined more than 70% since the summer of 2014.

Brent futures gained 40 cents to $37.47 a barrel as of 1519 GMT (10:19 a.m. EST), after settling 14 cents higher in the previous session. The crude benchmark is set to end the week with a gain of more than 5 percent.

The United States is currently a net importer of natural gas, and gross imports represented nearly 10% of total supply in 2015, based on data through November. The United States imported 7.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas, mostly from Canada by pipeline, and exported 4.8 Bcf/d, mostly to Mexico by pipeline. For years, Alaska has exported LNG, mostly to Pacific Rim countries, but these volumes have been small. In addition to the Sabine Pass terminal that was the source of last week's LNG shipment, four other LNG export terminals are currently under construction.

In 2015 we continued to adapt to the tough environment created by the dramatic drop in oil prices. We have seen prices crash before, but this fall has been particularly steep, from over $100 a barrel in mid-2014 to below $30 by January 2016. The work we have done to reshape and strengthen BP after 2010 stood us in good stead to withstand these conditions and last year we took further action to make the business more resilient in the short term. We also continue to invest for long-term growth. Our safety record improved, along with operating reliability, while costs came down and capital discipline was maintained. The current environment has however impacted our financial results, as well as those of our competitors. So, while the oil price is beyond our control, we have performed strongly on the factors that we can control.

The world's biggest oil exporter lifted the official selling price (OSP) of its benchmark Arab Light crude by 25 cents a barrel for cargoes loading in April.

Iran is working to regain market share after sanctions relief and exports had already risen by 500,000 bpd in February, Mohsen Ghamsari, director of international affairs at National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC), told Reuters on Tuesday.

Light, sweet crude oil prices on the New York market gained modestly to settle above $34/bbl on Mar. 1, and Russia state news agency TASS reported Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak said a “critical mass” of oil-producing countries had agreed to freeze oil production.

Profit attributable to NOVATEK shareholders increased twofold to RR 74.4 billion, as compared to RR 37.3 billion in 2014. The amount of profit and its dynamics were significantly impacted by the foreign exchange effect and the change in fair value of non-commodity financial instruments (including at the joint ventures level), as well as the effect of disposal of interests in joint ventures. Net of these effects, our adjusted profit attributable to NOVATEK shareholders in 2015 and 2014 totaled RR 135.0 billion and RR 104.8 billion respectively, representing a year-on-year increase of 28.9%.