Vitol, the world's largest oil trader, believes the crude price will struggle to trade above $60 a barrel next year, as the effects of slowing global demand growth could be compounded by a return of Iranian and maybe even Libyan barrels.

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) announced today that income from continuing operations for the third quarter of 2015 was $265 million, or $0.31 per diluted share, excluding special items. This compares to income from continuing operations for the second quarter of 2015 of $380 million, or $0.44 per diluted share, excluding special items. Adjusted operating income was $506 million in the third quarter of 2015, compared to adjusted operating income of $643 million in the second quarter of 2015. Halliburton's total revenue in the third quarter of 2015 was $5.6 billion, compared to $5.9 billion in the second quarter of 2015.

Two of the biggest independent oil explorers in the North Sea have predicted a further 10,000 jobs will be lost from the sector, indicating a growing acceptance that oil prices are stuck in a prolonged slump.

Statoil with partners Petoro and OMV have started the world´s first wet gas compression on the seabed of the North Sea Gullfaks field.​

Repsol SA said Thursday it will sell €6.2 billion ($7.1 billion) of noncore assets through 2020 as part of a cost-cutting drive, which also includes a significant cut in oil-exploration spending.

He gave the warning in a statement as Schlumberger reported third-quarter earnings per share that were 48 per cent below the equivalent period of 2014, but slightly above analysts’ expectations.

The business environment deteriorated further in the third quarter. However, the cost reduction actions we took in previous quarters and the acceleration of our transformation program enabled us to protect our financial performance in what is shaping up to be the most severe downturn in the industry for decades. As a result of our actions, we have been able to deliver pretax operating margins well above those seen in any previous downturn and we have continued to generate significant liquidity with free cash flow of $1.7 billion in the third quarter, representing 170% of earnings.

DEA Deutsche Erdoel (DEA), a company based in Germany controlled by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman’s investment firm LetterOne, signed an agreement to buy 100% of E.ON’s shares in E.ON E&P Norge for $1.6 billion, explaining that the transaction will allow DEA doubling its current production in Norway.

Spanish oil major Repsol said on Wednesday its net profit could fall by up to 22 percent in 2015, hit by low crude prices and a loss of value of some of its North-American assets which will trigger a big impairment charge in the third quarter.

"...in Europe investment signals are unclear. As a result of EU policy and lack of an expressed role of gas in these policies, there is an additional political risk concerning future European gas demand," Norway's Oil and Energy Ministry said in its reply to the European Commission, as a part of wider consultations on the EU's strategy on LNG and gas storage.

Nord Stream II would consist of two lines, doubling the 55-bcm annual capacity of the Nord Stream offshore pipeline which already runs from Vyborg near Russia's border with Finland to Greifswald in Germany.

Britain has told Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman he was still welcome to invest in the country even after he was forced to divest gas assets there under pressure from the previous government.

Swiss chemicals giant Ineos has bought its first British North Sea gas fields from Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman's investment fund LetterOne, outlining plans to further expand its energy resources to supports its petrochemical business.

Rosneft, as part of a PetroMiranda JV including PDVSA and Gazprom Neft, has drilled an unprecedented horizontal well GG1-14 at the Junin-6 block. The well is unique for the shallow depth, only 1,140 feet or about 347 meters, of the reservoir interval and the length of horizontal section 4,920 feet or 1,500 meters. The total length of the well is 6,059 feet (some 1,847 meters).

In the third quarter 2015, NOVATEK’s marketable production totaled 17.06 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas and 2,346 thousand tons of liquids (gas condensate and crude oil), resulting in an increase in natural gas production by 1.86 bcm, or by 12.2%, and an increase in combined liquids production by 813 thousand tons, or by 53.0% as compared with the third quarter 2014.