In the boom years of the US shale oil industry, profitability was something of an optional extra. Companies were focused on growth, it was easy to raise capital, and making a decent return on investment could be put off for another day.

Houston-based Linn Energy has teamed up with private equity firm Quantum Energy for a $1 billion asset purchase plan.

OPEC and lower global oil prices delivered a one-two punch to the drillers in North Dakota and Texas who brought the U.S. one of the biggest booms in the history of the global oil industry.

At this point in the oil slump, dreaded jobs cuts hardly come as a surprise anymore; this week, Talisman Energy let go of 200 employees while Neven energy cut 400. But how many total American jobs have low oil prices cost? A recent Forbes article estimates at least 75,000—about 12 percent of the nation’s oil and gas workforce—so far.

China’s Sinopec has become the latest oil major to cut its capital expenditure, after the slide in crude prices knocked nearly one-third from its 2014 profit.

Australia-based Woodside Petroleum is reportedly cutting 300 jobs and freezing pay in response to low oil prices.

Before Donald Tusk became president of the European Council, the former Polish prime minister had already begun campaigning for a European energy union.

Deals for North Sea oilfields — which have been held back by the plummeting price of Brent crude — could soon come back on stream, as a new tax cut helps to draw in private equity investors.

European companies are increasing their focus on offshore projects, securing an increase of their financing facilities and forging joint ventures to reduce costs.

Russia is using natural gas as a political tool and the United States needs to know if it is “on the same page” with Turkey regarding Russia’s actions, a top U.S. energy envoy has said.

The world’s biggest energy groups have sold record amounts of debt this year, taking advantage of historically low interest rates to plug cash shortfalls with borrowing, after a 50 per cent plunge in oil prices.

Companies within Russia’s energy industry should take advantage of Cyprus’ existing and potential opportunities relating to natural gas infrastructural projects, Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis said on Friday.

Total SA is seeking the equivalent of up to $15 billion in Chinese financing to fund its expansion in Russia, its chief executive said, as U.S. sanctions complicate the French oil giant’s big bet there.

The Bulgarian government finds itself in a position where it needs to secure long-term reliable natural gas supplies, after two successive failures in the past few years to get involved in major infrastructure projects, namely the Nabucco and the South Stream pipelines.

Russia may postpone completion of a huge pipeline to bring gas from two new fields to China, three sources with direct knowledge of the plans of export firm Gazprom said, delaying one of President Vladimir Putin's signature projects.